In The Ruins (A Fallout 3 Short Story)
by J-The-Legend
Summary: "The following story has been put together from a collection of pages left by a wasteland survivor before his death. It has been transcribed into understandable English but some sections were unreadable and have been marked as such. Contains graphic detail of violence, gore and torture. Not suitable for very young children. For those who know the victim, we gives our condolences."
1. Prologue

**Ok****, so this a new genre I'm trying. I thought it would be a good idea to try and write a diary entry of a wasteland survivor set in Fallout 3's DC. This is going to be different to the other stories I've done so far. For one thing it's going to be a lot more violent. Also its a horror so there's going to be scary and disturbing moments. This is only a short story so there won't be a huge amount of chapters or writing. Feel free to leave a review on it. All comments help me improve my style of writing. Anyways, hope you enjoy this prologue.**

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So this is how it ends? This is what my life has been leading up to? Dying alone and cold in a bombed out metro station? I could have been anything. I could have done anything. Granted in the wasteland there isn't much you can do except survive but still, I had the chance to be someone. Instead I made stupid decision after stupid decision. I should have listened to what my family always told me. I should have stuck to the path. I should have stayed at home. I should have stayed in Megaton. But it's too late to regret my bad choices now. If I am to die here I may as well leave something for people to remember me by. That's why I'm leaving this. If I don't make it out alive then hopefully one day someone may find this book and read it. Then maybe it will explain to them everything that happened to me. Maybe it will tell people how I died. Or maybe it will be full of hallucinogenic rambling, I don't know yet. But I've got plenty of time. They won't be getting through the door any time soon. So I may as well go all the way back to how this all began. Back to where this story starts. The day I left home for the first time. Three days before today.

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**That was the prologue. Hope it got you interested in the actual story. If it did, feel free to read on.**


	2. Part 1: At The Start

**Here's the first part. Hope you like where it's leading. Keep reading for more of the story. It will get a lot darker a lot sooner.**

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At the start of all this I was living, quite happily, in a small junk town city known as megaton. It was named that after the big nuclear warhead which can be found half buried in the ground at the centre of the town. Most people simply walk past it like its nothing. To be honest I could never get used to it being there. As a child I would stay up at night, fearing that one day it would just go off and we'd all be ripped apart by its atomic powers. Fortunately so far that day hasn't come. But back on track. I lived there all my life with my mother, father, older brother and younger sister. My parents had moved there from Rivet City after supermutants began to pose a major threat to the city. I wasn't unhappy living in Megaton. There were other kids to play with and as a young adult there were many jobs to do. Not many girls my age, though. That was the only thing I found slightly annoying. Plenty of boys but only one or two girls. Interestingly enough growing up in a poor place like Megaton teaches young children that bullying is a pointless exercise. All of us were born into the same situation and we quickly realised that we need to focus on our own survival more than anyone else's. In other places like Rivet City where they're much safer I imagine that they never learn rules like that. Sad really. As a young adult, around age 14, I was old enough to start working around the city. I took up several jobs like working as a waiter at the Brass Lantern, running errands for Moira over at Craterside Supplies and even helping Walter fix pipes at the water processing plant. I didn't get paid much, maybe 5 or 6 caps a week but it was enough to keep me going by myself. I tried to also work at Moriarity's Saloon but the tight nose bastard wouldn't let me in. Apparently I wasn't young or pretty enough. What bullshit. Anyway while working in these jobs I learned a few skills of my own, like how to fix a weapon when it breaks and how to set up my own food and carry a lot in one backpack. Useful things to know when travelling the wasteland.

Anyway, moving on. One day I hear some interesting news. Apparently Rivet City is open again to letting in travellers. They're willing to supply the homeless with homes and food. They've also got a lot of opportunities open for young people like me. I of course jumped at the chance. By this point I didn't really have a family anymore. My mother died giving birth to my sister who later died at the age of eight from radiation sickness. My father was killed while scavenging in Springvale, the small ruins outside Megaton, by a raiding party. The group he was with perished also. As for my brother no one knows what happened to him. He just disappeared. Apparently he had decided he wanted to move on so he packed up, left and headed north. No one saw him after. They lost sight of him past Vault 101 and no scouts have seen him since. I never even got a letter saying he was ok. That happened when I was sixteen. Now I'm nineteen and living in the house that they left behind. I had no one left to want me around; I had very little money and almost no future. I couldn't let this opportunity slide. I packed up everything in my fridge into a small sack bag which I hung around my shoulder. When I later checked there were four bottles of dirty water and one bottle of purified water, two packs of BlamCo mac and cheese, one packet of insta mash, one Salisbury Stake, one tin of cram, one tin of pork and beans and a couple of packets of potato chips. Not a huge amount but hopefully enough to keep me going if I only ate once a day and spread out what I ate. I also made sure to grab my father's 10mm handgun and combat knife from their resting places to bring with me as a form of defence. When he'd been attacked he'd had these weapons on him. The raiders had left them after searching the bodies. He and his party had been found the next day by a scout and their stuff had been brought back to their families. I struggled to get used to him not being there. At the time I'd only been twelve. I hopped the gun would still work. The knife certainly looked sharp enough.

I decided to stop by Craterside supplies and buy some more ammunition and anything else I might need. She asked me where I was going and I explained that I was going to try and reach Rivet City. She looked worried. Then she outright gave me a free set of armour to wear on the journey. She explained that she was worried for my safety and she wanted me to stay well protected against all the mutants and creatures that apparently roam the wasteland. I laughed but thanked her. Even though she's a little coo-coo she's certainly kind hearted, no matter what anyone else says about her. She didn't ask for payment in return. Instead she handed me an armoured jumpsuit, which was basically a normal jumpsuit liked with metal shoulder pads and leather on the inside. It would come in quite useful. She also handed me an old police riot helmet. The glass screen on it was slightly cracked and the plastic shell was dented from bullets. While I was there I also bought a hunting rifle for taking out enemies at long range and a sawed-off shotgun for taking out the much closer enemies as well as a few clips for both. By the time I was done I had my 10mm Pistol with 12 clips, a hunting rifle with three clips, a sawed-off shotgun with 6 clips, my combat knife and three grenades on discount in case things got hairy. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. I paid Moira all the caps I had and got ready to set off. The wasteland was in front of me now. I could feel its call. I know now that if the wasteland calls you do your best to ignore it. Its vast barren wave of destroyed ruins lay at my toes. The thing is like a siren. It calls to you with the beauty of its song, lulling you into a false sense of security. But once you're in it then it will devour you without second thought, pulling you into war zones, mutant nests and raider dens without notice and leaving you to die cold and alone under the baking sun or in a dank hole, a flurry of bullets dug into your torso and a sharp knife sticking from your ribs. Sadly at this point I had no idea what the wasteland was like. I'd never been in it before. In fact I'd hardly ever seen it. I'd never left Megaton before. It wasn't against our rules to do so. People went in and out of Megaton all the time but usually they didn't go far. Raiders tended to hand around Springvale. I stepped through the large metal sheet gates and out into the pure sunlight. It was morning, around 10AM. I stepped off and away from home for the first and last time.

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My walk to reach the outskirts of D.C was not terribly long or entertaining. It took me less than two hours at walking speed and, thankfully, apart from the occasional bloatflies and mole rats, there were no enemies or threats around. A promising start. Still, I kept my eyes open, just in case. I passed a fallen pylon on my walk. Apparently the used to carry electricity to and from PowerStation's into the city in older days, before the war and the bombs. I still find it tough to imagine something as big as a pylon carrying something as fiddly and tough to hold as electricity. When I was very young someone had told me they used to be metal giant that were petrified when the bombs fell and were left as fallen statues of their former selves. Ha. What bullshit. Metal giants indeed. The sad thing is for a long time I believed it. I made up stories on how they used to control people and feed on them before the wasteland and that the bombs were dropped to free us from them. Innocence and imagination dies quickly in this world. It's pretty much the first casualty. I kept on walking.

Half a mile later I came across a wooden fence. It was old and rotting, like everything else made of wood in this country. It hardly looked stable and many planks had been removed over the years. In fact there were only a few small sections still standing. The rest had all fallen of or been taken off or rotted away into dust over the years. The thing had probably spread out for a whole mile in its heyday. Still, being the young and adventurous fool I was, I decided to try and jump it. I backed up a little, readied my legs into a sprinting stance and ran at it. A few feet away from the planks I jumped, kicking off with my battered shoes. I sailed almost completely over the rotting wall. And then my foot caught the top plank. I found myself falling face first towards a hillside which had been hiding behind it like a raw and primed cobra. The plank my foot caught snapped with a dusty, rotted, sickening crack. Small pieces of decaying timber flew past me and landed on the hillside. I landed on my chest on the dead, crackling grass, rolled over once and landed still on my back, chuckling to myself.

"Maybe not." I remembered muttering as I inhaled between giggles. I rolled back onto my front and looked up at where the fence had been. There was now a large hole in the parameter of what had been left of the fence. Now there were just two short lines of old wood structure left. I stifled my chuckles, telling myself that, once upon a time, someone had had to build that fence and that they wouldn't be happy seeing me destroy it two hundred years later. I got up, wiped the dry grass of my armour and skin and continued onwards.

A few metres further on I reached an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere beside a cracked road near the river. There was a large sign on it, reading 'Super-Duper Mart', clearly a childish abbreviation of Super Market. When I walked around the front of the place it looked like it had used to be a raiders camp. There were mutilated bodies hanging from spikes and tied down to beds. The place looked surprisingly in one piece. Apart from a few destroyed pillars at the front it looked like it was still standing and would stay so for a good time to go yet. It looked quite appealing a place to rest or even live. However the mutilated corpses told me otherwise. I decided to move on. The place had clearly been used as a raider camp before and, even if there weren't any raiders outside, there probably would be inside. I didn't have the skill, ammo, guns or smarts to take on a posy of raiders just yet. I'd just have to leave it. Besides, I had somewhere else I wanted to be at this time and I needed ever hour of daylight I could get to make it there. I continued on my way.

Soon enough I came to the Potomac River. Many wastelanders used this point of the land to navigate as the river itself cuts directly through the map, heading from northwest to southeast. In fact it literally cuts D.C itself in half. This was the best place for me to make my way down south towards Rivet City. The large freighter sat at the end of the river, where it joined up to the Tidal Basin. Following the river down south would be the fastest route to it from here. I stopped at the water's edge. My toe's tapped the irradiated sand, inches away from the poisonous liquid which lapped at its edge. I took a few minutes to watch it before stepping in. Technically I had never learned how to swim as Megaton does not offer many opportunities to do so, but I had nearly drowned in the water purifying station once. I quickly learned then how to not drown. Thankfully at this small point I wouldn't need to swim. The water only reached up to my waist. The short lapping ripples tickled me but I knew not to indulge in it. While the radiation in the air here was safe enough to breathe without fear of radiation poisoning, the water had absorbed a lot of the bomb's radiation in it and was much more hazardous to stay in. I made my way as quickly as possible to the other side. As I stepped back onto drier land I found myself standing by a road on a concrete overlook, three metres above the water. The cold stone froze my wet feet to the bone. The radiation tickled my skin like barbed feathers. I looked around. The edge of D.C was directly in front of me now. To my left there was a short row of tallish building that quickly grew in number further down. On my right was the river. I sighed and wiped irradiated water from my arms. Only one direction to go now. Forwards, with the river. I stepped along. I passed a metro entrance. It looked in one piece and certainly somewhere to hide in or travel through if you were brave enough. But I was not brave enough. I knew what liked to lurk in the dank dark down there. I'd heard the stories.

I had barely gone a few steps past it when suddenly I saw a figure not too far away. They hadn't seen me but I could make out enough detail on them for me to quickly realise that calling out would be a very bad idea. The figure was male and wearing a revealing set of thin leather armour with short spikes on the shoulder pads, arms and legs and little to cover anywhere else. On their head was a makeshift leather helmet with a large pare of goggles for the eyes. In their hand was a small 10MM submachine gun. It looked loaded. I groaned. A raided. I ducked behind a close destroyed car. Thankfully the raider hadn't seen me yet but it soon would. Because of all the drugs running through their systems, raiders tended to be skittish. They got paranoid about nothing and tended to rush about, searching for something, anything, to kill. This one looked especially bored. It seemed to be patrolling the river edge. That usually meant there was a group of the there. Raiders liked travelling in groups. One of them would act as look out while the others would rummage and find loot to use as weapons, armour, ammo or simply to mess about with. I reached to my back and pulled my rifle out of its holster. I held the ranged hunting weapon calmly in my hands, pulling back the bolt and making sure there was a full round inside. There was. I sighed. If I didn't deal with this one raider then it was likely to spot me and warn the others. I'd have to take it out and hope that the other raiders weren't nearby. I practiced aiming the rifle quickly. The stock pressed against my shoulder joint as I aimed it. For being a long barrelled gun it was quite light and surprisingly easy to aim and wield. I glanced through the melted, broken window of the car. The raider was coming this way. Fortunately it hadn't seen me just yet. There was no time left to hide anymore. I waited a few seconds.

Then, with a sudden burst of surprising speed, I jumped into a standing position, faced the raider whose expression was melting through from surprise to excitement, aimed the rifle at the raiders head and fired. The .32 inch bullet shot from the muzzle with a small bang of light and sped forth at almost invisible speeds, drilling through the leather skullcap and burying itself in the raider's forehead. There was a surprised yet pain filled grunt. A second later and the wasteland villain was lying on the floor, a small puddle of blood forming around them. The sound of my shot echoed off the buildings. Fortunately I heard no shouting and saw no one running towards me. I sighed. A lucky escape. I let my arms fall, my right hand still holding the rifle's stock. The barrel end scrapped on the dry stones. I knelt down beside the new corpse I had just made. It didn't look like the raider had much on them. They were hardly wearing anything and there was no bag or pockets on them. I reached for their gun. The thing looked like it was ready to break apart. The raider had clearly kept it in a very poor condition. It didn't look like it would even fire one bullet before breaking apart. I looked at the cartridge poking out of the bottom. With a slow gentle hand I gripped the long magazine and tugged it off the grip it was stuck to. I glanced inside. It looked to be almost full, missing maybe four or five bullets at most. That would make at least a spare two clips for my pistol. I stood up again, still holding the gun magazine. I reached for my small sack bag on my back and slid the magazine inside one of the pockets. I then reached for my rifle again.

As I bent down I heard something whizz past my head. Immediately I dropped to the ground and hid behind the nearest car. Another bullet ricocheted of the car side. Someone was shooting at me and they had a rather good aim. I risked a glance over the top of the car. In the distance, further into D.C I saw a figure wearing thick black armour and holding a simple but well kept sniper rifle in both hands. He had what looked like a mix between a fireman's helmet and a gasmask on his head. The sniper rifle was aimed directly at me. I saw a flash from the tip and dropped back behind the car as a bullet struck the metal where I had been a second before.

I hissed under my breath. "Damn snipers." I gripped my rifle and checked the cartridge. There were four bullets left in the clip. I pushed the round back in and cocked it. This raider was a much better shot then most of them and I wasn't likely to have a lot of time to take it out before it fired again. I rolled to the other end of the car, kneeled up, aimed the gun over the top and fired at the raider. The bullet dug into the dirt a few feet away from where the raider was standing now. I grumbled and pulled the bolt back again. I fired a second time. This bullet just missed the raiders head and sailed onwards, bouncing of a building behind it. I pulled the bolt back again. This tactic was not working as well for me anymore. I glanced over and was surprised to not be sniped at. Instead the raider was running towards me, loading another round into his gun. Now was my chance to take him out. I dropped my rifle against the car and whipped out my 10MM pistol. I quickly checked the magazine to see that it was full and aimed it. As the raider got closer my finger itched on the trigger. Then, when I decided it was close enough, I whirled my gun around the side and fired once. There was a small bang and a loud 'OW!' I turned to see the raider clutching at its leg and stumbling backwards. It raised its sniper rifle with one hand and fired. I ducked back behind the car as the bullet hit the stone and bounced. Then there was the sound of something not terribly heavy hitting the stone. I looked back to see the raider running of, limping with one leg, its rifle lying abandoned on the stones by the car. It must have been out of ammo. Now was my chance. I looked out from the car again and aimer the gun, firing twice. Both bullets dug into the raider's spine and they fell forwards. Their yell of surprise was just audible to me from this distance. I sighed and fell back down behind the car. That was that problem taken out. I reached for my rifle and cocked it. Only two bullets left in this clip. I did not want to waste them, not with my limited amount of ammunition.

From a few feet away I heard the worrying and surprising sound of someone saying 'What was that?' I looked in the direction of the river. The voice had come from over there. Slowly I snuck up to the edge and looked down. Two raiders looked back up at me. One was holding a small and crappy looking revolver; the other was holding a flimsy assault rifle. I ducked back behind the ledge as a flurry of bullets passed my head. I cursed myself for giving myself away so obviously. I slid my rifle back into its holster. At close range it wouldn't be any use. The raiders were likely to dodge the shots I made. Instead I decided to focus on my pistol. I pulled the top back, cocking it for the next shot. I glanced over the wall edge and received a bullet whizzing past my head. I ducked back around. This was likely going to require quick movement and a lot of blind fire. There was nothing for it. I rolled to my left and fell over the edge. As I did so it aimed out my pistol. I fired five times. Three bullets hit home, striking the raider with the rifle in the chest and killing him instantly. The other, a female raider, aimer her revolver and fired two bullets. As I landed I quickly rolled behind a pile of destroyed tires and dodged the shots. Then I heard her fire again and again. Then the click of the cylinder popping out and the sliding of new bullets into the gun. Then more firing. Something wasn't right. Why was the raider still firing? They usually tried to save on their ammunition. I risked a glanced round. The raider was no longer looking at me. Instead she was focusing her attention across the river. I tried to follow her gaze.

And then there was a storm of bullets. They ripped and tore at the raider's skin, shredding her to pieces in a split second. The lifeless corpse fell to the ground a few feet away from me. I gulped. What the bloody hell was that? I glanced past the tires and looked out onto the river. There was nothing standing in the river itself. What the raider had been firing at was on the opposite riverbank. I looked up and shuddered. There, standing tall and powerful like the giants that they were, were two big, muscular, yellow skinned supermutants. One was holding a hunting rifle, the other was carrying a huge minigun with a still rotating barrel and both looked hungry. I fell back behind the tire wall. They must have heard the shooting and come out from their den to find the source. Supermutants were tough bastards. It was advised to never get close to one. They could easily snap your skull into chucks with just one hand. It was also advised to not get into a gun battle either, as some of them tended to carry around miniguns like this one. It was just advised to avoid them if possible. Unfortunately I didn't have much of a choice. The mutants had definitely seen me and the stairs were too far away to run to and stay in one piece. I wanted to get to Rivet City alive if I could help it. I'd have to take them out at range. I slid my pistol back into my pocket and whipped out my rifle again. I stuck the barrel out of the edge and aimed it at one supermutant. I fired. The bullet struck it in the torso. However the mutant hardly seemed to flinch at all. It hardly even felt the pain. It roared and fired; hitting the tires I was hiding behind and making new holes inside them. I ducked back around. That wasn't the best choice I had ever made. I still had one bullet left in my rifle. Maybe I could take at least one of them out with a lucky shot. I'd have to try at least. I aimed the gun again and fired. Nothing. The gun was aimed at the supermutant with the minigun's head but instead the bullet had missed it by inches, flying past and of into the distance. I growled and tugged the empty cartridge out. That was one full clip wasted and I only had three left. That gave me a total of fifteen bullets for my rifle. I slid the next round into the gun and pulled the bolt. This would take forever to take them out this way and I didn't have the ammunition to spend time doing that. But at the same time I was trapped. The supermutants weren't likely to let me try and run. They'd mow me down the second I broke cover. There was nothing I could do. This I found myself looking at the river. I snapped my finger. Of course. The river. I could make a break for the river and swim away. The mutants weren't terribly smart. If I disappeared under the water they wouldn't be able to tell where I was. It sounded like a plan to me. I slid my rifle back into its holster quickly, slid up my sleeved and dived into the thick, irradiated water.

Saying it was cold would be a lie as the radiation acted as a heater, making the water much hotter than it should be. But I managed it well. I felt myself spike through the water's top like a spear through the ground, penetrating the surface and diving down, out of sight and range of any incoming bullets. I held and swam. From outside I heard the gargled cry of the supermutants.

**"Hei! Werez 'e gon?"** One roared in confusion.

**"I dunno! Find 'im now, you dum' mut'nt!"** The other roared back.

I chuckled under my lungful of air. Supermutants could be so stupid sometimes. I swam under the water and headed for land again. I desperately tried to hold my breath for as long as I could. When I did finally come back up for air I was at the riverbank again, back by the metro tunnel. I dragged myself onto land and quickly scurried up the wet sand and onto the concrete again. I ducked behind the metro entrance's wall. The mutants still hadn't noticed me get out. They were too busy arguing with one another and shooting at the water. I let out a small laugh. They still couldn't figure out that I had given them the slip. However, I would no longer be able to follow the path I had been going down. If I did there was the chance that the mutants would see me again and I wouldn't be able to give them the slip twice. I looked back into the metro. The rusting metal gate was shut for now, but it wouldn't take much to open, even for me. But I was still cautious about going in. It wasn't the best option I had. I heard from the opposite bank one of the supermutants roar in anger and start firing again. I looked back at the metro. No, it was my only option. I crept down towards it and slid the metal gate open. Slowly, cautiously, I slid through it and shut it behind me, heading deeper down into the dark. This was the first big mistake I made.

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**That was part 1 of 5. Hope you liked it. Follow for more chapters to come.**


	3. Part 2: Through the Metro

**Here's the second part. This is when it gets really gruesome and dark. Anyone like zombies?!**

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It was dark inside the metro. Darker than anywhere I had ever been before. I wanted to turn back. I wanted to leave this place, but I did not. I couldn't turn back. The only way I could go was forwards. I stepped on, further into the dark. Around me dust and rubble cluttered down from the walls and roof, creating a spooky tapping sound which echoed through the tunnel ahead. Further on it was even darker, looking like the rear end of a dark hole and probably as wide and empty as one. I was reluctant from going in. I hadn't been inside a metro before. It felt like the roof would cave it at any second. I had hardly ever even been in the dark before. Back in megaton everywhere was lit up. The inside of building, the pipes, the saloon, the armoury, the toilets. Even the town itself wasn't terribly dark. Not only was there the moon but also the lights from lamps and building kept the whole location illuminated. But In here, the crumbling underworld below the surface, there was no sun or moon. There were hardly even any lights. I wiped my brow from under my helmet. Somehow it was incredibly hot down here. Ahead of me was a short tunnel entrance of some kind. There was a turn to the right which lead to another part of the tunnel which dropped down into the metro station. On the left side of the room was a cracked stone bench and on the right was a rusted overturned locker. The metro looked completely destroyed. But it looked safe enough for now. I took another step forwards. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness a little. I had hardly taken a second step before I heard my stomach begin to grumble. With a tired sigh I walked over to the bench, sat down, slid of my bag and opened it up. I rummaged around inside for a seconds until my fingers bumped against a thin box and I pulled out a carton of BlamCo mac and cheese. I placed the box on the bench next to me and dug into the bag again, this time pulling out a can of cram. I dug in a third time and grabbed a small bottle filled with irradiated water. And this was my lunch for the day. It wasn't much but it would keep me going, till at least the next day. Most of the irradiated water was used to make the mac and cheese sauce which tasted revolting. After lunch I threw the boxes and litter aside (It didn't matter as much as it had in the past. The world had already fallen apart and ended so who cared what crap was left lying around.) and decided to continue onwards, starting my journey through the metro.

The first thing to happen was I was jumped by a couple of starved mole rats but they were no threat. I slid out my combat knife and made quick work of them. I remember how easily my knife slid into their skin. One both mutated creatures were finished I kept going, sliding my knife back into its holster and reaching for my pistol. I stopped when I was at the centre of the station platform, standing under a buster stone roof with holes of light protruding through and above a completely crashed and cluttered set of train tracks. Every sound echoed through here. I still can't imagine the sound that the trains would have made as they came into the station from the tunnels. I made a quick map of the area and realised I had hit a very dead end. There were four tunnel heads in the station for the train tracks. This would have been perfect for using as a guide to find a way through, except for one major fact. They were all blocked. At least two of them were completely blocked up by rubble, while the other two had broken down trains blocking up the hole. One train also had a fide mountain of rubble helping it out. I sighed. So I wasn't going this way then. I turned around and walked back towards the metal gate. So far my fear of this place hadn't proven itself to be true. Apart from the mole rats there was nothing else living here. I took another closer look around the entrance hallway I had come in through and found a single metal door hiding behind the locker. I pushed the heavy metal brick over and looked at the door. It seemed to be a door to one of the maintenance tunnels or something like, maybe to the central heating rooms or air conditioning. It was visibly dark down there. Even with the occasional small emergency light flickering on and off it was dark. If anything it looked creepier down there then it did in the metro tunnel itself. It was also very thin. Who knew what was living down there in the deep dark. But I had nowhere else to go. I'd have to risk it. I gripped my father's 10mm pistol in both hands and stepped in, shutting the door behind me.

The maintenance passage was not as bad as it first had seemed. There were no monsters living in it and thankfully it got a little lighter the further I went into it. I relaxed a little. Maybe I'd get lucky and not run into anything dangerous. But as I continued on I quickly learned that that was not going to be the case. Eventually I reached the end of the passage and found another metal door. I pushed it open and found myself in a large open room with a lot of ventilation grids. Unfortunately this room was neither as quiet nor as empty as the main metro station. This was not just including the sound of the ventilators spewing horrible smelling gas or the fact that there was a large metal grid fence with barbed wire at the top cutting the room in half. There was life in here with me. I heard a horrible creepy scuttling sound coming from the other side of the fence. I looked through, shaking with slight fear. On the other side of the fence I could see a wrinkled, thin, irradiated, browny-yellow hide poking out from behind a generator. At the base of it I could see a small patch of rags covering up the creature's lower body. It seemed to be crunching on something. I stepped forwards reluctantly, trying to see the rest of it. And then it turned. I gasped at what I saw. It was a human, or at least what was left of a human after the irradiation had taken almost everything. Its skin was almost nonexistent, rotting yellow and clinging in a thin sheet to its small muscles and thin bones all over its body. It had long, lanky arms and legs and its fingers were sharp with uncut claws. The worst thing however was its face. It was just a yellow skull; almost no skin was on it at all. There was a gaping hole where a nose had once been but no longer was. Blood was drooling from its black toothed mouth. And its eyes. Dear god its eyes! They glistened in the light of the room, shining bright yellow and white with madness and poor sight. There was no sanity inside it anymore. I stepped backwards, resisting the urge to hurl. This was not a human being anymore. I had heard what happened to people who had been irradiated so badly that their bodies were changed beyond help, but I had not imagined them to be anything like this. This was one of the Capital Wastelands many ghouls. And it had seen me. Giving a gurgling roar it stood up and ran, I took several steps back. The creature crashing into the metal gate and bounced back. It clearly wasn't strong enough to climb it or pull it over. Even I couldn't have done that. Thankfully it turned out the gate was also locked, so it didn't come swinging open as the ghoul hit it. But the monstrous remains of a human weren't giving up. It clawed at the metal and only succeeded in scratching it. In panic and fear I made another dumb mistake. I fired my gun. The bullet pinged of the fence a few inches away from the ghouls head. It seemed shocked for a second, surprised by the small flash of light and the sudden sound. Then it began to cackle. It threw back its arms and screamed, giving a horrible rattling laugh. Another roar joined it… and another… and another. I metaphorically crapped myself at this point. Now I was in trouble. From bellow me I could hear more scrabbling. Then, at the far end of the room and thankfully behind the fence, I saw three more figures running up the steps and towards me. I stepped further back. Three more ghouls. All four feral ghouls rammed into the fence gate at the same time and it shook. I heard an angry creak from the fence itself. Severe immediate panic flooded through me. Was it possible they could knock it over? I couldn't go back. Even if the mutants weren't there anymore it was possible that something else was. More raiders most likely. I didn't want to have another fight on my hands right now. I quickly looked around for somewhere to hide. I nearly cheered when I realised I had been standing with my back to a door. I didn't think. I flung the door open, rushed into the room it was opening for and closed it with a heavy slam.

I didn't take any time looking around the room. I glanced instantaneously through the doors keyhole. I could just about see the fence through it, the ghouls still bashing away at it. They seemed to be getting tired out now. Maybe it was because of their rotting muscles or because I was no longer visible, but the ghouls suddenly gave up. They turned around and stopped, a couple of them wandering away towards the back of the room. I sighed and slid down the door, sitting with my legs out on the mucky littered ground. Now I looked at where I was for the first time. The room I was in was some kind of control room for the ventilation turned into a den. There was a hammock beg hanging from the far right wall in between a few broken metal shelves and filing cabinets. On the left side of the room was a desk with lots of clipboards and bits of electronics and a seemingly still working computer. I walked over to the desk. As well as clipboards there were a few electronics magazines. One in particular I noticed was a small booklet called Dean Electronics. I left it to the side. Electronics wasn't likely to help me here. While the room was safe enough there was only one way out of it; the front door, and there was no food in here. If I decided to stay and wait the ghouls out I'd run out of my own supplies and eventually I would have to leave. There had to be something that would help me get rid of them. Anything. Even if it only got rid of one of them it would help. My chance of getting through the others would be heightened enormously. I tried the computed. I was right, it did still have power and it did still work. It hadn't been corrupted over the years of rot. I was quite relieved by this. I sat at the still foam covered seat by at the desk, rolled it over to the computer and switched it on. The screen flashed and turned hollow green. Green text began to roll across it. It gave me a collection of options. One that caught my attention read 'Ventilation: Vent hazardous flammable waste? (Y), (N)' I thought on this for a second. How could I use flammable gasses to aid me? It wouldn't do enough to kill the ghouls by itself. They probably would resist the toxic levels of the gas itself and if they didn't it would take them a day or so to die from it at the low quantity it was reading with. I didn't have a day. I barely had an hour to be honest. Then I remembered the discount Moira had given me. I reached a hand into my pocket and pulled out one of three fragmentation grenades. Maybe this would help. An explosion would be enough to set off the gas, even I knew that. The problem was whether I could get the grenade through the gate and away from me it time, whether I'd be able to get to a safe distance it time and whether it would even work. But I had to try. Hopefully the explosion would at least help me in some way, maybe killing one or two of the ghouls if not all of them. I clicked (Y). Data began to scroll across my screen. Outside the room I heard a slid sliding of metal and the hiss of escaping gas. So it still worked. That was a good sign. Now all I needed to do was set of the grenade and get it through the fence.

I opened the door slowly, trying to be cautious so as not to give myself away again. Most of the ghouls seemed to have moved away now. Only one was still sitting at the gate. It was crouching down on its knees, scratching at the floor patiently. So far it hadn't heard or seen me. I could see the flammable gas pouring out from metal ventilation tunnels in the sides of the room. The noxious cloud rippled in my vision, covering everything in front of me with a slight blur. I held a hand over my mouth, trying to block out the petrol taste of it. It gripped the grenade in my other hand. The pin was still inside. I had never thrown a grenade before. This would be my first time doing so, but it wouldn't be the last. As I stepped closer something metal squeaked under my foot. I looked down at the loose floor piece sticking up. So did the ghoul. Its head suddenly seemed to prick up, hearing the sound from its earless holes at the side of its bald head. It turned and looked straight up at me. A gurgling sound came from within its mouth. Then it lunged. I jumped back, inches away from the gate now. The skinny yellow arm came through the gate, scratching at the air between me and it. I stifled a worried gasp. The gate was breaking already. How? It had been much stronger a minute ago. Did the gas seem to be having an effect on it? When I looked at the fence itself I saw the rust that had kept it solid all these years beginning to fall away. The fumes were somehow knocking the stuff of the metal, making it much weaker than it had been before. If I was going to act I'd have to do it now. With my spare hand I slid out my knife. I considered using my gun for this but thought against it. The shot would probably set of the gas as well, with me by it. I raised the knife a brought it down, slicing the ghouls arm of. It roared in pain and pulled back, holding its bleeding stump. I almost smiled to myself. Its limbs were so thin and weak that they broke off with ease. I'd hardly needed any force. I was going to remember this fact. Using this new advantage I pulled the pin of the grenade and dropped it through the hole. I turned and ran from the room, heading back for the engineers door, the ghoul screaming behind me. I looked back and saw the other three running towards the gate again. I reached the door and swung it closed behind me. I did so just in time. As the door slammed shut the grenade went off.

There was a tremendous 'BANG!' and a huge amount of force, coupled with intense heat, struck the door, knocking me back slightly. I held it closed, fearing now the explosion I had set of. The sound of the ghouls had been drowned out by the sound of exploding metal and roaring fire. I could feel the door melting under the temperature I had created. And then it all stopped. My ears rattled. I couldn't tell if everything was screaming or if everything was silent. But one thing I could tell is that the explosion had stopped. Cautiously I opened the door. The entire room had been charred. The gate had been flung from its hinges and was lying at my feet in several smashed pieces. The wall was nothing more than dust now. The small generator that had been behind the wall had popped, now just a sparking, burning crater. And all the ghouls were lying in pieces, small trails of blood lying around them. I sighed gratefully. It had worked perfectly. At the far end of the room was another door, leading further into the metro. I had no choice but to go that way now. I stepped over the broken gate and the burned corpses and headed for it.

* * *

I travelled along another maintenance corridor, heading back up closer to the surface. When I reached the end I found myself standing in a train tunnel. To my right was a dead end, so left was the only way. I looked both ways and headed down it. It was lighter then I would have expected it to be down there. Maybe it was the light from the station that was reaching the end, or maybe it was my eyes getting used to the dark. I walked on. Soon I came across a midway, with another tunnel on the other side. The midway looked deserted, with another rusting locker on the floor and an empty Nuka Cola vending machine. The train tunnel on the opposite side was also empty. I considered heading that way maybe. Then I looked down at my feet. I was standing on some kind of paint drawing. I took my foot of it. I realised that it was a sign. A recently done one, too (By recently done I mean made after the bombs fell). It was drawn in with pain of some kind. I knelt down to get a better view of it. It was mainly a circle with an arrow pointing from the top and towards the tunnel in front of me. In the centre of the circle were words. I struggled to read them at first but eventually I realised that it read 'GNR'. GNR? That was that radio station that everyone listened to back in Megaton. It was supposedly a station that told everyone the horrible truths of the wasteland and was guarded by a large squad of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers. A noble cause. So this new tunnel led there, did it? I stood up, considering my options. Head down the new tunnel and towards a protected radio station or head further down the tunnel I was standing in and towards somewhere I don't know. I considered this. While GNR was protected and would be somewhere to stay for a while, it was heading further into DC. I didn't want to go further into DC. I wanted to reach the outskirts and find the river again. But thin unmarked tunnel could lead anywhere. It could even be a ghoul infested dead end. I looked down it. It looked quiet for now, but who knew how long it would take for things to change. It also didn't look to long. I took a few seconds. Then I made a tough decision. I'd go down the unmarked tunnel. Even if GNR was a sign of hope, it wasn't in the direction I wanted to go. The unmarked tunnel had a chance of being the right place I wanted to go. I had to take the chance. I turned away from the marked tunnel and walked on down the unmarked, darker tunnel.

* * *

Thinking back to it I probably would have been better of heading for GNR. Even if I didn't reach Rivet City at least I wouldn't be here, where I am now, trapped in a small metal room with creatures on all sides. They're banging at the door now. Their screeches haunt my mind. I'm losing myself to…

(A paragraph of illegible scribbled gibberish has been removed for the sake of the readers.)

"FUCK OFF!"

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Continuing back with the story; I walked on down the tunnel, my pistol now in my hand. I had pulled it out as a precaution. I'd heard scrabbling echo from ahead but I didn't know where it came from. It had stopped a minute ago so I was beginning to relax again. It only got darker the further in I went. I could hardly see anything and I had to feel my way around. I passed by another midway. Then I heard a scratching sound. I stopped, my heart stopping dead. I turned slowly and looked down the midway. Sitting in the middle of it were two feral ghouls. I heard a gurgling from one of them and they both turned, looking straight at me. I didn't think about it for a second. I turned on my heels and ran.

I sprinted down the tunnel heading for a desperate end. Behind me I heard the ghouls scramble and run after me. I had not stayed to fight. One ghoul wasn't likely to be a problem now I knew how weak they were. But two of them together were very dangerous. I could take out one but the other would most likely get me. Even if it didn't kill me if it got just one bite in I was done for. Ghouls had only two natural weapons: Their claws and their teeth. Their claws, while painful, where fine. You weren't in much danger if one scratched you. You'd be irradiated a little but you'd survive. If one bites you however then you're in for a painful experience. The bite itself is not only ten times more painful, but its saliva is also loaded with toxic radiation, enough to poison you in fact. Ghouls became ghouls through surviving that radiation poisoning. It wasn't exactly uncommon for someone to survive such a thing, yet a lot of the people who did lost their skin, muscles and facial parts due to it. Many of them also lost their sanity because they survived it down here, in the metros of DC. Down here there are no doctors, no other people to remind you of who you really are. Down here your mind can lose itself forever. I kept on running, speeding up in a desperate attempt to outrun the flesh absent zombies chasing after me. I quickly learned however that the tunnel was a dead end. Rubble covered up the end with a thick mountain of rock and dust. Luckily there was a midway just at the part that had collapsed. I ran through it and sped on down the other tunnel, still heading in the direction I had wanted to go. Behind me I heard the ghouls bare feet pad against the stone floor as they both scurried after me. Soon I saw a station up ahead. I internally whooped with delight. A way out! I sped up. The ghouls began to fall behind a little, but they kept running after me, howling with hunger and madness as they hurried after me. My happiness quickly subsided however, as I saw that the station was not as empty as it first had seemed. In the dark I saw several lanky, anorexic figures lurking in the shadows, scratching at the dust and stone. I groaned. More ghouls. And one of them was by the escalators. There was no way I'd get past it without being seen. At the far end of the station were two more tunnels, one was blocked by a train. This station was not safe for me to try and get through. Quickly I jolted for the far tunnel. Now I had five ghouls chasing after me, including the one from by the stairs. I narrowly avoided a swipe from one that got to close, and kept on running. I jumped onto the train tracks, rolled and kept going. I quickly stopped as I realised how stupid I had been. This tunnel was also a dead end. Rubble blocked the entire other side from sight. Again there was a midway leading to the opposite tunnel, but that was blocked by a train. Behind me I heard the ghouls running of the edge of the platform and onto the track, getting very close now. I had nowhere else to run. I'd have to try and find a way past it. I ran down the midway. The ghouls followed, hungrily. I reached the train, ran down as much of it was left from under all the rubble that covered it up and found a joint. The ghouls were right behind me. I leapt, jumping off with my left foot and pushing off from the train joint with the right. I passed through the gap, just as a ghoul claw scrapped the back of my leg. I felt the burn of radiation under my skin, but I did not stop. I winced and fell a little but reached the other side in one piece. I rolled again and kept going, hearing the ghouls trying to climb over the long piece of metal. Luckily they couldn't jump. I saw a pile of rubble next to the train and climbed it, reaching the top of the ancient vehicle in seconds. I ran across it like a free runner and stopped at the edge, seeing nowhere to go. A couple of ghouls were waiting at the bottom of the train. The others were climbing up the sides now. I looked back at the escalator. Another damn ghoul had wandered over there, blocking my escape. I looked up at the overlook. It was so close. In fact it was barely inches away. The train was sitting under it. The only thing I could think of doing was trying to jump up there. But could I reach it? Behind me I heard scrabbling. I turned to see a ghouls hand grab the top of the train and begin to pull itself up. I had no choices left. It took a few steps back and ran, leaping up, open hands out, toward the overlook.

I felt my fingers grab something cold and metallic. I looked up and saw I was hanging from the metal railing around the side of the overlook. I smiled. I had reached it. I lashed my other arm up and grabbed the metal railing with both hands. I was currently hanging around 6 metres above the ground. The ghouls had swarmed bellow me, lashing at my feet in a desperate attempt to pull me down. If I slipped and let go now I would be done for. I had to stay holding on. My entire mind focused on hanging on. Once I had that under control I began to pull myself up. It was long and strenuous but eventually I pulled myself up over the railings and onto the solid stone and concrete floor. Below I heard the growling of the ghouls. I sighed and rubbed my face. I'd evaded them. At least I thought I had. Upon pulling myself up I'd seen that there were no ghouls up here. But a few seconds after I had reached safety I heard the sound of scrabbled running from bellow. My heart stopped. My mind froze. Slowly I stood up and glanced over the railing. The ghouls were gone. Immediately warning bells rang in my head. If they weren't below me anymore then… I turned toward the escalator. I stepped backwards. I heard the sound of ten pairs of legs running upwards. I turned and ran, heading for the exit to the metro. Thankfully this one was not blocked. I was so desperate to get out of there.

I turned the corner and stopped. What I saw there will haunt me to my dying breath. As I reached the corner I heard a scream. A human scream. This was followed by a chorus of ghoul screams. I turned it and saw two ghouls jump onto an armoured man with a combat shotgun. On the floor behind them was a ghoul corpse, one that the man had clearly shot as its head was in pieces everywhere. The ghouls knocked him over and began biting at him, ripping him to pieces. His screams still echo in my ears. I did not stop. I couldn't help him now. He was already dead. I kept running. The two ghouls paid no attention to me. They were too busy with their latest meal. Their friends were clearly catching up again now. I could hear their rushing footsteps catching up behind me. They were starving. They were insane. They were not human. I kept running, heading up the slope and reaching the metal entrance gate. It was opened slightly. Clearly the man had only just arrived. I didn't stop. Hearing the unnatural beings right behind me I darted through the gap.

* * *

**That was part 2 of 5. Hope you liked it. Sorry if some of the gruesome moments surprised you or if it felt a little too rushed. Follow for more chapters to come.**


	4. Part 3: The Raider's Den

**This chapter is a bit more of a struggle to digest. There's more meat and gore and fighting in this one. Sorry if that's not what you like. There's still a lot of quiet moments, too. Hope you enjoy. The next chapter will be up soon.**

* * *

I jumped through the hole and into the fading daylight, finally making it back outside to the mild safety of the day. The ghouls inside the metro reached the gate and stopped, shielding their faces from the sudden brightness. One by one they began to stumble away, back into the dark. I sighed and adjusted my helmet. That had been to close. As a precaution I slid the gate fully closed so that any ghoul who got a bright idea couldn't follow after him. Once it was closed I slid a wooden plank through the handles, blocking it shot. Then I stepped back and fell into a sitting position on the ground. I sighed. I was glad to be out of there. But I couldn't get the image out of my head. I had let that person die in there. I could have saved him but I was too afraid. I never even saw his face. I didn't know his name. I knew at this point I was never going to forgive myself for doing in. The scene had been burned into the back of my mind for the rest of my life. Several minutes passed and I just sat there, trying to pull myself back together. I hadn't even checked this area to see if I was safe. I had no idea what was at the top of the escalators out of the metro. Eventually I did finally decide to make a move again. If I was going to eventually reach Rivet City I'd need to keep moving for as long as I could. I stood up again, rubbed my eyes clean and turned for the escalator. I took the steps one at a time, keeping a sub-cautious eye open. I eventually reached the top and found myself looking out into a small town plaza. It was destroyed, of course, but not terribly. Apart from the shattered buildings around it, the small pools of burned grass and irradiated water and the burned out cars it looked actually quite nice. Above the sun was beginning to fall below the horizon. Night was quickly approaching. It would be here in around two hours. It was probably best for me to try and find somewhere to spend the night rather than continue on. While night time isn't exactly more perilous then the day it could still be quite dangerous. One problem is the difficulty to see, of course, but there is also the fact that some mutants and creatures like the dark more than the light. I stretched my arms.

Then, to my personal surprise, I heard an excited yet angry yell behind me. I stopped mid stretch. I spun around, dropping my arms and moving my head to the side as a bullet passed by it. I collapsed behind the low stone wall, my back against it, my arms reaching for my rifle. I cursed. Raiders. How could I be so stupid as to not check my own surroundings? There was more shouting now, seemingly cries to the fight. There was a whole gang of them by the sound of it. Then there was gunfire. Bullets and dust ricocheted off the wall. I ducked down further, covering my head. I must have come out at the end of a den. I cursed again. I gripped the rifle in my fist and edged towards the end of the wall. The shooting did not follow. They clearly couldn't tell I'd moved yet. I glanced around it. I had indeed exited into a raiders den. There were makeshift stone walls standing in a dodgy line at the end of the metro entrance, clearly covering up something. A raider turned around the corner, carrying a baseball bat. I hid back behind the wall again. I didn't have a chance at running away. I knew that if the raiders didn't manage to shoot me down now they would follow me 'till they did. I readied the rifle, steeled my nerve and turned, the rifle aimed. The raider was half way down the path towards me, running and swinging the bat wildly. I raised the rifle and fired. The bullet passed through the raider's skull, shattering it into small bloody chunks. The corpse went rotating backwards, the force of the shot causing it to do a small backwards summersault before landing wetly on the dry stone. A small puddle of blood followed with it. I fell back behind the wall. More angry shots were yelled.

"I'm gonna tare you apart!" Was the one I remembered the best. I looked around the corner and quickly darted back as a rocket sailed right past where my head had been. The rocket continued to sail off into the distance before finally exploding in the sky like a firework. I growled. They had a missile launcher. I glanced back around to see a horrible looking, drug ruined female raider reloading it. I swiped up my shotgun, resting the rifle harmlessly in my left hand and wielding the shotgun in my right. The raider was still reloading. Taking a dangerous chance I rolled out from cover and hid beside an out sticking metal pillar by the building wall around the metro entrance. Thankfully nothing shot at me as I hid away again. I took a quick glance out at the raider. She was walking towards me now. I felt that when she got close enough one shot from this shotgun would be enough to finish her. I hid with my back to the pillar. I could hear the raider right behind it now. Then the tip of the missile launcher poked around the end. I took aim. The shotguns barrel exploded. Hundreds of shell particles flew out of the glowing end, striking the raiders arm and, most importantly, the missile launched. The weapon cracked, snapped and flew out of the raider's hand, falling in several pieces to the bottom of the metro. The raider gasped and then shouted angrily. She passed by the pillar completely now. I saw her reaching for a knife. I didn't wait a second. I raised the shotgun again. When it fired the raiders face exploded with shrapnel. The lifeless, headless corpse fell back, hitting the stone guard with a wet 'thunk'. I quickly clicked open the barrel, popped out the two empty shells and loaded in another two quickly, ready for its next use. As I clicked it back shut I leaned out and looked around the pillar. A bullet f'tanged of the metal next to my head as I ducked back behind the wall. Deciding that arranged fight was probably best I re-pocketed the shotgun and slid out my trusty rifle again. I'd already taken out two of them, and raiders didn't usually travel in groups larger than five. They couldn't count that high. When I'd glanced round I'd caught sight of two more raiders. One behind the far wall carrying a pistol and another peeping out from behind the makeshift fence at the edge of the metro entrance. I cocked the rifle and turned the corner. Within the matter of a second I had raised the rifle up, aimed it and fired, sending a precise bullet ripping through the air. It landed in the chest of the now firing raider behind the wall. He fell backwards, yelling and spluttering, blood flying out of his chest. A few seconds later the sounds stopped.

For a second I thought that I had the fight under control. Then suddenly I heard a terrific Kamikaze yell from the other side of the metro. I suddenly saw a scantily clad, drugged up, knife wielding female raider charging straight at me, her eyes bloodshot and red while glistening with madness. She swung the knife wildly in front of her, cutting open the air with swift, nasty, sharp wrist movement. Her eyes were completely fixed on me. I back up a little, finding myself up against a wall again. The raider had turned the corner now and was running in a straight line forwards towards me. All the way she kept screaming, a horrific crackling screech that only a banshee could happily own. I rose up my gun. The bullet that was suddenly fired penetrated the wailing raider in the forehead and she went down like a bloody ragdoll. I relaxed a little. That apparition had been taken care of. I stepped away from the wall. More bullets flew by in front of me. I jumped back, letting out an annoyed and fed up growl. How many fucking raiders were there here? There's only so many junkies that one man can kill. I rolled out from the pillar and avoided another flurry of bullets. I hid behind the barrier, glancing a look at this raider through a large chip in the stone. This one was mail and wearing a helmet. He was also carrying a simple assault rifle and it looked well kept and loaded. I fell back behind the wall. This one must be a leader of some kind. I cursed under my breath. It looked like he was the last one left, however, and with a gun like that he would most definitely shoot me down before I could escape. I'd have to take him out. This time I really didn't have a choice. I rose up and aimed the rifle, firing a single bullet. At the same time the raider ducked back behind the wall, narrowly avoiding the shot. I grumbled and hid back behind the barrier. The rifle clicked, stating it was now out of bullets. I pulled out the empty clip and quickly slotted a new one in. Then I slid the rifle back onto its holster on my back. This guy was quick and the rifle took time to aim. I'd need something quicker to aim and fire. I favourite my father's pistol. I took a deep breath, listening out carefully for the sound of the raider getting back up. Finally I heard the scrabble of armour on stone and the footsteps of worn out boots. Now I would have a clear shot. I stood up.

Five bullets were fired from my pistol. The first one struck the wall behind the raider, narrowly missing his left shoulder. The second struck him in the right shoulder, making him flinch and recoil. The third hit him in the ribs, making him double over. The forth one hit him in the centre of the chest, causing him to gasp suddenly and breathlessly. The last one finished the job, striking the centre of his helmet and breaking through it, causing a small fountain of blood to escape from the hole and a river of it to flood out from the helmets gaps. The raider fell backwards, hitting the floor lifelessly, lying in a pool of his own internal life liquid. Unfortunately before he'd gone down he had managed to fire his gun for a split second, just before the fourth bullet hit. I winced and stumbled back; several tiny assault rifle bullets had burrowed through my armour and into the left shoulder and arm. They stung and ached, causing my left side to feel wet. But at least they weren't serious. I would have been in much more pain if they were. I grabbed my left arm as it began to go numb from pain and blood loss. I could still move it at least, but it felt weak and limp. It would take a while to heal and I didn't have a med kit on me or even any stimpacs. Maybe the raiders would have something to help in their den. I walked around the metro entrance and headed for the makeshift den that had been set up. I turned the corner to find one last raider sitting there, whimpering in a far corner, weaponless and afraid. I had no mercy for him. I raised my pistol up with the one hand and shot him square in the chest. He gave a surprised yell and fell back against the wall, gurgling and gasping for air. A minute later he fell quiet. His cold eyes continued to stare at me long after the life had drained from them. I lowered my pistol again. Murder was not a choice I had voted for in the many courses of action I could take, but I knew what one raider could do. If I let him go he'd gather his friends and they'd hunt me down. I was not in the position to fight of another group of raiders. My arm was killing me and I needed something to heal it with. I looked around the den and found a huge supply of guns, grenades, mines, armours, chasm, foods supplies and rows upon rows of medicines. It was all lined up on a book shelf, displayed for any passing wandered to see. I reached up and grabbed a vile of Buffout (A drug which boosts pain resistance and increased strength) and a stimpacs (A basic needle full of medicine which promoted healthy cell growth so that wounds and scars heal faster. I downed the fell pills in the bottle and injected the serum into my body. Immediately I felt the boost they gave me. Now I was feeling strong enough to keep going for a while. Just to be safe I grabbed a second bottle of Buffout pills and slid it into my back so that if the pain came back later they would help with it. I then looked at all the rest of the stuff. There was so much and who knew when a flamer or a missile launcher would prove useful. Also a nice new helmet and set of combat armour was always a plus. But then I remembered one of the most essential survival rules. Always know your limits. This included your strength and how much you could carry and stay walking. All of these weapons and armours were useful and would aid me in certain situations, but for the rest of the time they'd way me down. Where would I put a huge flamer or missile launcher when I wasn't using them? They'd never fit in my bag. And the combat armour was fiddly. You'd need to be an educated soldier to know how to put it on properly and keep it from falling away as you walked. And on top of that most of the weapons and armour were huge and incredibly heavy. Even if they fitted into my bag they'd weigh me down. On top of all that, this was a raider's stash in a raider's den. There was almost certainly going to be another group of raiders that turn up here at some point and they'd be likely to know how much equipment they'd have here. They might not notice one or two small things missing, like medicine, but a huge weapon or a set of armour. That would get noticed. And if they noticed that, it would make them angry and set them up on an angry search for the thief. It was past noon now. The sun was beginning to fall behind the horizon. I wouldn't be able to go far during the night with my still wounded arm so I'd have to find somewhere close by to sleep. If more raiders turned up in the night and noticed their stuff gone they'd be likely to find me sleeping and then I'd wake up hanging from a spike from the ceiling. No. This equipment was best left where it was. Even picking up more ammo would be likely noticed. Raiders were usually very finicky with how much ammo they had. They didn't like to waste it all. I turned to leave, my eyes passing over the dead raider in the corner. I stopped suddenly. I had only just noticed something. I turned to the raider. A small, stomach turning gasp escaped from my mouth. The raider I had just murdered was little more than a boy, maybe no older then fourteen. I had been to angry and tired and in pain before to notice. That's why he'd panicked and hid, trying to be spared. He had hardly even hit puberty yet by the look of him. I didn't even know if he'd been a raider child or simply a captive. And I'd just murdered him. I couldn't stay there any longer. I had to leave. I had to get away. I headed for the exit, walking at a fast pace away from the den. I glanced back, my head aching and my stomach feeling ready to hurl. What had I done? What was happening to me? I was becoming as wild as this place. I couldn't let myself become as bad as the raiders. I had to hold on to my humanity with both hands. After a few minutes' walk I finally reached a small overlook at the edge of the plaza. There was a small stone walkway on the rock edge, with a low stone barrier around it, low enough to hide a sleeping man behind. I climbed over the edge and sat against the rock. The sun was half way gone now and the moon was beginning to rise. I some locations of the wasteland the night could look beautiful. I'd heard stories of lands full with trees where the stars glowed like fireflies up above and the moons light turned the land into a sea of diamonds. I didn't believe it, but the idea of it gave me some mild hope. Maybe all this could one day go back to normal. Maybe humanity could be saved. Maybe there was something better out there. I sighed and slid my bag of my shoulders. Whatever the truth there was no point chasing a dream. Such an event was a dream to me. Dreams were dangerous. They made people make stupid decisions. I leaned back against the rock, my guns lying a foot away from me. I rubbed my wounded shoulder again. Pain was lightly flicking me, reminding me of the wounds. I pulled out a box of potato crisps and a bottle of irradiated water to have as supper before I slid down and lied on the solid cold floor as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I was awoken several hours later by angry shouting. One eye flicked open. Someone was having an argument not too far away. I rolled over, remembering to stay quiet. My arm was aching again but not too badly now. I nearly yelled out slightly as I rolled onto it, causing it to sting again. I bit my lip and edged towards the wall, glancing over to look at the scene. Down the hill, standing just outside the metro, was another group of raiders. There were at least five of them, carrying a variety of nasty looking weapons and wearing some tough looking armour. They were shouting about the den. They'd clearly found the bodies. I slipped away, deciding it was not best to remain here with them getting there. They would be likely to do a search of the area in a minute. I didn't want to be here when they did that. I grabbed my bag and flung it over my shoulder, slid my rifle, pistol and shotgun back into their holsters and crept away, escaping from the madding raiders and their god forsaken den.

Once I was out of their range of sight and hearing I stood up again, heading for a road in-between the buildings on the east side of the plaza. It took me only a few minutes to reach it. The road was broken with huge mounds of rubble on multiple sides but I could still walk down it. The night was getting older, the moon now hanging lower on the opposite side of the sky. The stars above glowed a sickly white. The world was ill. Even the sky was unwell. I couldn't stay thinking about it. I had a long walk ahead of me. I was hoping that I would at least eventually get out of D.C so that I could try and find a way back to Rivet city. I had not given up hope of getting there just yet. As I kept walking I had begun to relax again. The pain was leaving my arm and the wounds seemed to be healing well. The night wasn't so bad and there didn't seem to be anything abou…

Ahead of me I heard a sudden roar and the sound of gunfire. I stopped. I peeped out from around a pile of rubble. Ahead of me was a cross junction of the road, leading ahead and to the left and right. Two armies were colliding, entering from both sides. One was a couple of poorly armed raiders, the other were… Supermutants. I groaned. Was I ever going to get a minute away from these two groups of annoying freaks? They started firing at each other, sending bullets and missiles flying through the air. They hadn't seen me yet thankfully. I just hoped it would stay that way. A few seconds after it started, the gunfire stopped. There was a supermutant roar of delight as the final raider stopped gurgling. So the mutants had won that fight then. I glanced around again. One mutant was carrying a heavy minigun; the other was holding an assault rifle in its tiny arms. Was it possible that these two mutants were the ones I'd been attacked by earlier? The ones I'd run away from. They were still standing at the centre of the crossroads, looking around for a new target. They had no intention of moving. I moaned to myself as I hid back into cover. So they were blocking the way, and I was never going to sneak past them. I sighed. I had no choice. I'd have to kill them if I wanted to pass. But if I was going to kill them I'd have to be smart about it. Supermutants are bulky and tough, but they have poor accuracy. Their heads are also quite weak and fragile in comparison to the rest of them. Looking down at the floor I grabbed a small stone and hurled it at the wall opposite me. It bounced of the building with a light clank of rock on metal and fell away to the ground. I ducked down by the wall of rubble.

From my hiding place I heard one Supermutant yell **"Hei, wat wos that?"**. I felt the heavy footsteps coming towards me. I slid out my shotgun. Then the huge yellow bulk appeared, its back to me, looking at the wall where the sound had come from. I nearly had to hold my nose. The smell of the thing was horrendous. I raised my shotgun and stood up. The supermutant turned around slowly. **"Wot the…"** It managed to roar before its head exploded as I fired both rounds of the shotgun through its skull. The huge bulk fell back, landing on its own weapon. The second mutant roared from the other side of the rubble. I pocketed my shotgun again and switched to my rifle. I jumped out of cover and fired at the second mutant who had also begun to fire its assault rifle. Every single bullet passed by me, harmlessly. I fired the rifle. The first bullet hit it in the chest. It hardly even flinched. I fired again. This bullet hit it in the arm. Still it seemed unhurt. I fired again. Still it stayed standing.

**"****I'LL EAT YER ARMS WHEN YER DEAD!"** It roared in my face, throwing its assault rifle away and pulling out a huge, bloodied, vicious looking plank of nailed wood. Now I was beginning to panic. It gripped the plank in both arms and ran at me, swinging it above its head. If that thing hit me I'd be more then dead. I'd be a crushed pile. I fired a forth bullet. Finally my attacks seemed to hurt it. It stopped mid run and stumbled backwards a little, the bullet I had just fired landed into the side of its skull. Yet still it was standing. It flung its arms back and roared **"YYEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!"** I fired the last bullet in my gun, now quite literally shaking in my armour. If this shot didn't kill it then I was dead. The bullet whizzed out of the battle and hit the bullet already lodged in the supermutant's skull. There was a horrible crack of bone and a squelch sound as suddenly the supermutant fell stopped, its roar cutting short. A trickle of dark red blood rolled down from the bullet hole. There was a horrible gurgling sound from the supermutant. It stumbled forwards, swiping out with a hand and narrowly missing me. It gurgled a final **"I-im-mpossib…"** before hitting the floor and lying there, unmoving. I gulped and gasped for the air I had been holding in my lungs. That was too close. I clicked out the empty clip from my rifle and fitted a new one in quickly. I barely had time to be glad I was alive when I heard more shouting behind me. I was suddenly very alert. The raiders from the den must have heard the shooting and were now coming to get me. I ran on, heading down the road and past the recent corpses, making my way out of D.C and away from the havoc I had left behind.

* * *

A few hours later and still I was running, aiming to get as far away from the raiders and supermutants as I could. Finally, after ages of running I stopped. I couldn't believe what was in front of me. It was like a mirage. I was at the edge of D.C, finally, after more than a day trying to get out of it. The wasteland was in front of me again. Never had I felt so glad to see it before. I was free from the horrible claustrophobia and dangerous mutants of the ruined city. I knelt down and kissed the ground, only to spit out mud and dust a second later. I was so glad to see freedom again. The maze of D.C was no fun to travel through. I wonder how people managed to get through it as a job. The dawn was on its way in now. There was no light on the horizon yet but the mood was beginning to fall away so that meant it wasn't too long till the day came back in to visit. But I didn't stay congratulating myself for long. I still had a way to go, and, even though I didn't want to, I'd have to head back into D.C at some point. Rivet City was on the other side of the ruins. In order to reach it I'd have to follow the river. Now all I had to do was find the river again. I looked around. I could ever follow the ruins left or right. After a few seconds thinking I eventually decided to head right. As I walked along I passed a well guarded building with protectron robots waddling around in front of it with their small, hat feet. They noticed me and began bleeping as I walked by.

_"__BZZT. TARGET LOCATED. OPENING FIRE"_ Red energy lasers began shooting out of their arms but I ignored them. They were behind a metal grate fence and most of their shots were just bouncing of that. They were no danger to me. I kept on walking, leaving the defective bots to waddle around at their guard posts.

I kept going until dawn broke. Light filled up the land again, shooing away the shadows and darkness of night and making way for vision and the strength of light to take over its daily watch again. An hour after dawn I was still walking, making my way around the edge of D.C. I was getting close to the end of the city now. Then I stopped, my heart falling. The road was completely blocked by a domino line of fallen buildings and rubble. I groaned. A dead end. The entire edge of the city was a dead end. I kicked the ground. I had been walking the wrong way for several hours only to find out it was a dead end! I wanted to shout and complain but I knew that would just waste my time. Having no choice left, I turned back, heading the way I had just come. That was two hours completely wasted. Great!

* * *

"They've stopped knocking now. I'm so glad. But I can hear them out there. I can hear their hungry growling. It's driving me mad. The skin on my face feels loose. I scratch at it but nothing happens. I'm losing it. I can see him! The Grim Reaper. He stands ahead of me like a hand to the weary traveller. His scythe glistens in the dark of this room. My gun is pointed at his head. But before I could fire he disappeared. Am I seeing things now, too?"

"What is h…ha…happ-p-penning to me?"

"I…"  
(The following paragraph is to scribbled and covered in water to read)

"For the love of god someone get me out of here!"

* * *

**That was part 3 of 5. Hope you liked it. Sorry if it feels a little long. Follow for more chapters to come. **


	5. Part 4: Full Circle

**This is the last chapter before the end. It will probably be the longest of them due to a lot of explaining and add in details which will lead to the reveal of what happened. Sorry if it seems a bit rushed in parts or long in others. The final chapter and epilogue will be up soon enough.**

* * *

I followed the pathway back the way I came for a full hour and a half till finally I reached the junction road again. Dawn had struck higher into the sky, reaching midday at its epicentre in the sky. Its position told me it was around eleven o'clock. On the way I'd past the crazed protectron robots again and again I had ignored them. One of them nearly got a lucky shot in but I wasn't walking slow enough to be in any danger. Now stepping back into the middle of the road back by the edge of D.C's ruins, I took the left path, heading west and walking at the ruins edge. This path was even less interesting then the precious one. At least that one had had robots on it. This one didn't even have a fly. Nevertheless I followed it onwards, hoping it would lead me in the direction I wanted to go. For at least twenty minutes I walked in silence, listening to the creaking of the corroded buildings and the rattling of radioactive dust on the cracked road. I even whistled for a bit. I wasn't very good at it. But quickly this silence went away as I turned a corner and came across a couple of metallic spikes sticking from the ground. Around them were a few coils of wrapped barb wire. It looked to be dome kind of defensive wall, clearly not made by raiders. Raiders preferred to use cardboard and corpses hanging from hooks. It also looked poorly kept as the wire was rusting and hardly hanging together. The spikes on it looked completely blunt. I looked on past the wall. It wasn't easy to make out but it looked to be some kind of plaza with a fountain at its centre. Cautiously I snuck past the makeshift wall and into the plaza. From first glance it looked like there was nothing in it, at least nothing living. On the other hand there weren't any corpses either. That was a good sign for now. It meant that there hadn't been a fight here and that there wasn't likely to be one. I stayed crouched and sneaked a little closer. I still couldn't see anyone. Relaxing a little I stood up again. Just in case, I withdrew my pistol and kept it gripped in my hands. You never new in D.C. I walked up towards the fountain. The water had turned a horrible irradiated greenish-brown and was full to the brim of dead leaves, dust, brick, pieces of metal and rusting coins. My stomach turned. I wasn't thirsty enough to drink that just yet. I stepped back and heard a clutter of rubble. I turned, raising my gun. There was nothing. I looked down a sighed with relief. I'd kicked a small stone with my foot as I stepped back. I relaxed again, dropping my arms to my side. This place was desolate. Completely uninhabited. I was freaking out for nothing. The stress of the day's events must have been getting to me. There was nothing here that could harm me.

"H-h-he-help!" I froze. The weak, terrified voice had jolted my system. I wasn't as alone as I'd previously thought. Slowly I turned around. The cry had come from the other side of the fountain. My pistol came back into view in front of my face. In the wasteland I had a right to be cautious to a cry of distress. Some gangs of raiders use their victims pleading cries to attract unwary prey into traps. It's a horrible trick to play, but effective. Slowly I crept around the edge of the fountain, its water glimmering in the now midday sun. As I reached the other end I peered my head around, staying in my cautious stance. I remember gasping when I realised what was there. A man, covered in rag cloth clothing, wearing no shoes and wielding a long fuzzy beard under his pointy chic was lying tied up, beaten and irradiated on the ground next to the fountain. He had clearly begun coughing blood as the small puddle on the ground by his mouth and the drips running down his chin told me. Tear stains dotted under his eyes which had turned purple from the heat and sickness. Down his arms bruises and cuts ran. Several of his fingers were missing. One of his legs had been crushed beyond the ability to walk. He looked like he'd been left there for days. Considering his state it was amazing he was still alive. He looked at deaths door. I dropped my gun and fell to his side, slipping out my knife and cutting his binds. He didn't even fight me. He didn't even look at me. His eyes just stared of into the sky, blinking occasionally. Once he was free I helped prop him up against the fountain, stepping back and allowing him a breath. He inhaled weakly, exhaling with great effort. His body racked into coughing. I held him still with my hands on his shoulders. What the hell had happened to this man? His mouth quavered as he tried to speak. His lips were chapped by the heat and his voice was gone from lack of use. Finally he managed to whisper half a word.

"W-w-w-wa-t-t" I reached into my bag and rummaged around for a second, eventually pulling out the bottle of purified water. I had been hoping to save it for a time I'd need a clean drink but this man clearly needed it more. Irradiated water would be likely to kill him. I twisted of the bottle top and placed the head to his lips, pouring the liquid into his mouth. He sipped for a second and began to cough again, spitting blood onto the ground. I stepped back, covering my face from the nasty red spittle. When he stopped I put the bottle back to his lips. He tried to grab it with a hand but his two remaining fingers couldn't keep a grip on it. He gasped as he drank the last drop and his lungs loosened up again. His body was beginning to hydrate itself again. When he finally felt like he had his strength back he raised his hand and grabbed my arm, pulling it close. "Th-thank y-you." He gasped. I stared at him through my helmet visor, my water bottle rolling past my foot, the last few drops boiling and dripping onto the hot stone floor. He fell back against the fountain.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked finally. He coughed for a short while before finally answering, his voice rasping at the back of his dusty throat.

"S-su-p-p-per mu-t-tants" He struggled to reply. He pointed out into nothing with half a bloody stump of a finger. "Th-they c-c-c-captured me... b-beat me... s-st-starved me." He fell silent for a second. The strain of talking was getting to him. "For... two... days" He dropped his head back against the fountain. Tears began to form in his eyes again. "Long... gone... now. Area's... s-safe" I looked straight into his eyes now. There was only exhaustion behind them. Exhaustion and sadness. "Please..." He gasped, grabbing my wrist. "Please... kill me." I looked at him. He couldn't want this. He really couldn't want me to do this for him. But the mans expression told me otherwise. He looked certain of his choice. He knew just how bad he was. He knew that he wasn't likely to survive another day. But how could I do it. I hadn't ever taken a life like this before. Killing raiders, even when it's not in self defense, isn't tough. But a dying man... "P-p-please..." He gasped again. "Please... I won't survive. Please e-ease my s-s-s-suff-f-fering." His arm fell limp and tired against his lap. His eyes fell upon my pistol which I'd forgotten that I'd dropped a minute ago. Slowly I picked it back up and looked at it too. Could I really bring myself to end this man's suffering? Could I really pull the trigger? I stood up again. I stayed looking at the pistol. Then I aimed it at the mans head. He closed his eyes, a weak smile cracking across his burned face. I looked down the barrel which was aimed directly at his forehead. It would be a quick, painless, instant death. He wouldn't feel it. He wouldn't suffer. It would all be over in seconds. But how would I live with it. How would I get through every day left of my life knowing I had to kill someone else. I couldn't make that choice. I couldn't live with myself. Slowly my arm lowered, the gun aiming away from his head and towards the floor.

"I can't." I told him. His eyes opened slowly. He looked suddenly more in pain then before, he'd been denied peace.

"P-please." He begged. "I can't stand. I can't walk... End my suffering, I b-beg y-you." A tear began to fall from my eye. As much as I wanted to help I just couldn't. I was not that kind of person. I reached into my bag and put the last pack of potato chips, the pork and beans and one of the two remaining bottles of dirty water. If he got better then these supplies would help him for at least a day. But he didn't have a weapon. I couldn't spare any of my weapons for him, but... I looked around and spotted a piece of lead pipe lying nearby. I walked over to it, picked it up and placed it by the mans side. That would allow him to defend himself from mole rats at least. He just continued to stare at me, stunned by what I had done. Finally, when I'd given him enough, I stood up again. He continued to look up at he. I sighed.

"I'm sorry." I turned to go.

"H-help me." He called after me. I didn't look back. How could I. What could I really do. I couldn't kill him. But at the same time I couldn't really save him. All I could do was give him a chance. It was a low chance, but it was still a chance. I walked onwards, heading for a small road out of the plaza and back into D.C. As I walked I spotted a small box of 32. inch ammo for my rifle lying abandoned at the side of the road. I grabbed it and slid it into my bag. Now I had an extra clip for my rifle. This thought only sat in my head for a few seconds. It quickly fell back to the man I'd left to die, or live, by the fountain in the plaza at the edge of the D.C ruins.

* * *

I can't... I can hardly move my freaking f (Scrawled letter F's) fingers. It's so cold. My skin is wrinkly. Can't be long now. Maybe a day at most. They've stopped banging finally. Their roars and shouts and taunts still fill my ears. They make me bleed. They make me sick. They make me insane. I'm going insane. Fruit-loop. Gaga. Insert crazy synonym here. All I have is this frigging book. I just pulled an entire layer of skin from my forehead. An entire layer. The blood doesn't even bother me anymore. The scar itches. For F(The following sentence is unreadable due to blood and tear stains.)

"I... I hate... I hate... Hate... Hate... HATE!"

* * *

I kept on going for another half an hour or so, the man I'd left still taking up most of my thoughts. Had I really helped him? Maybe I should have killed him. He wasn't going to be able to walk anywhere after all. I kept walking, thoughts shrouding my mind. Eventually I reached another spike and barb wire wall in my way. Unconcerned I kept on walking. Beyond the wall was another road. I followed it. About seven feet on I started to see bloody bags lining the edge of the path, bits of flesh and meat poking out of them. The stench was atrocious. I nearly hurled just at that alone. When I actually saw the bags I had to find a handy corner to empty my stomach in. When I was done I continued on. The smell was made even worse afterwards. It seemed to mix in with the smell of the vomit stuck to my armor. A few feet further on and I came across more bags, each full to the brim of mutilated limbs and body parts. I had to cover my mouth and nose with a piece of wet cloth just to hold of the smell. I turned a corner and kept on walking.

Suddenly a ball of radioactive bile flew past the side of my head. I ducked in alarm. The missile had come out of nowhere and struck the road a few feet behind me. If I had been standing an inch to the right it would have hit me straight in the face. I fell behind a wall edge, peering out from a corner. I couldn't see what had thrown the projectile. Then,, from around the corner, the most disgusting looking, pink skinned, six legged, flailing tongued creature I had ever seen. It looked like something from a disturbed horror movie, struggling to waddle forwards on six human shaped arms, attached to a fat, mutated, bloated lower body dragging across the floor behind it. Its spine had elasticated into a fat, flabby tail behind it, creating a sludgey looking body on which it it crawled. Its upper body was basically a torso, the arms now being located on its lower body, with twisted stomps poking out from the shoulders and a row of rib bones poking out from the chest like teeth or barbs. The creepiest part of it was its face. It had three tongues, lashing, lapping, whipping and flicking around from its mouth like wet tickling feelers. They seemed to be acting as its major sensory organ as its eyes were so small and hidden away in its head skin I imagine it could hardly use them. It didn't seem to be able to see me from where I was hiding which I was very glad of. Once, long ago, someone had told me of a film called Human Centipede, an old horror movie from the early 21st century, giving an disturbingly in-detailed description of the whole story. This thing was exactly like what I imagined that film would look like. I decided I was not going to even bother attempting to kill it. It would just be a waste of ammo. I waited for the creature to turn its back and walk away before stepping out and heading on. The thing did see me but luckily I could walk faster then it could and it quickly gave up the chase.

I walked further onward. Time passed by quickly. Nothing else interesting happened for at least another hour. And then, finally, I stopped. Ahead of me was the same metro station I had entered yesterday morning, on the same boardwalk by the same river at the same part of D.C. I stood open mouthed. How the hell had I managed to end up at the same place I'd started over twenty four hours ago?

"For fuck's sake!" I remember exclaiming as I grabbed a large stone and hurled it into the slow water. As the splash rippled and faded away I flung my arms out and yelled at the sky. I had just walked in a frigging full circle through D.C and ended up back at the exact same place! I had just wasted a full day! I knew I had to find the river again in order to make my way to Rivet City but I at least hoped it would be a little closer than here. I took a few minutes to yell my angers out and release a little stress. Thankfully there were no raiders or mutants nearby to hear it. A couple of startled scroungers ran out of their holes in fear, however. When finally I'd calmed down I spent a minute to think about my situation. I did quickly realise there was no point complaining about my situation. It probably would take only a few hours to follow the road to D.C from here. The problem was I was exhausted by all the walking and traveling and there wasn't a huge amount of time I had before night time. But I'd have to start walking soon if I wanted to get at least a little bit closer to River City by night fall. It was probably best that I find somewhere to sleep for the night. I didn't spend any longer thinking. With haste in my step (whatever that meant) I set of again, following the river this time towards Rivet City.

The walk along the riverside was fairly uninteresting this time. The weather was calm, not exactly sunny but at least mild. And, for the first ten minutes or so, the walk was uninterrupted. Unfortunately it didn't stay like that for long. A little while ahead I came across a collection of burned out, wrecked trucks lining up an area next to the river edge. At first it had seemed abandoned. Then I heard something moving from behind them. I stopped. There was a slithering, sloshing sound. I peered through a gap in between the vehicles. On the other side I could see a camp fire dwindling inside a car tire and a small cluster of rusting chairs circled around it. behind that was a makeshift grey-green tent, the kind that army marines would have carried around and slept in at the front line bases. But, for the moment I couldn't see anything that would make a sloshing sound. In order to get a closer better view through the gap, I slipped my helmet off and placed an eye open to the gap. This was a really stupid choice to make. A second after placing my face to the cold metal a hot blob of radioactive brown liquid flew out from a corner and hit the metal right next to the gap. A few drops splashed out and hit the visible parts of my face. I recoiled, exclaiming in pain. The skin where the liquid had hit burned and audibly fizzled on my face. I scratched at it, trying to wipe it off, causing a small piece of skin to bleed. I groaned. Goddamn radioactive bile burns. I reached for my rifle and slid my helmet back on. A small trickle of blood ran down my forehead, blurring the top of the visor. Feeling tired, annoyed and all around bothered by the current experience, I gripped my rifle, roared and ran around the corner. Another one of the strange, multi-legged, tri-tongued creatures was waddling towards me, tongues wailing around in front of it. There was no way anything in the universe could consider something this ugly to be possibly cute. I decided to put it out of its almost certain misery. I raised up my rifle and fired. The bullet struck the freaky thing in the right side of the torso. It flinched but kept waddling, its tongues reaching out towards me. I fired again, this time hitting it in the eye. The horrible black ball burst, spraying nasty goop everywhere. Yet still it kept walking. I stepped back. How the hell was this thing still walking? Still it was dragging itself towards me, its tongues whipping out, only a few feet away from my chest. I stepped back again, firing another two bullets into its ribs and lower pelvis (or at least what should be its pelvis. It didn't react at all to being shot there.) Before I could fire the fifth bullet I felt the light thud of the metal truck container behind me. I had nowhere else to back up now. A long slippery tongue reached out and wrapper around the gun barrel, pulling it away from its face. I tugged against it but for something with no arms it was surprisingly strong. It gurgled, excitedly, staring at me with its one good black eye. In desperation I reached for my knife. I raised the blade upwards and brought it down hard on the tongue. A gaping cut appeared down it where the blade hit and stuck. The creature groaned in pain and tugged harder, the knife stuck in its tongue. I ripped the knife out again, leaving an oozing slash halfway down the width of its tongue. I raised the knife up again and brought it down harder, back onto the slash. Suddenly the opposing pressure on the gun barrel disappeared and I fell backwards, hitting my head on the metal container behind be. I rubbed my head and looked at the creature. It was waddling backwards, horrible brown blood oozed from a now gaping hole in its mouth where one of its tongues had been. The tongue itself was hanging wrapped around the end of my rifle, small drips of ooze falling out of the severed end. The creature gave a pain filled gurgle and whipped its tongues around, trying to grab something, anything in front of it. It took me a few seconds to wake myself up again and aim my rifle for the fifth time. The last bullet in the round burst out from the tip and struck the creature square in the forehead. There was a thwump. A wave of brown blood sprayed over me, covering my visor in goop and my armor in radioactive liquid. A few small specks slid in under the plastic screen. It stank horribly and tasted like burning acid. I spat and wiped my face and visor. When I could see through it again I chuckled a little at the sight before me. The creature was dead. What was left of its slowly deflating body lay in a fat slumped heap in front of me, its two remaining tongues curled up by the side of its head. I didn't spend much longer looking at it. Even dead the thing looked utterly revolting. I looked back at my rifle and pulled the limp, hanging tongue off the end of the barrel, freeing the tip from the rigger mortis grip. Next I looked at my knife. It was covered in a fine coating of brown goo and sludge from the severed tongue. I groaned in disgust and wiped the blade on my jumpsuit sleeve. When I felt it was clean enough I slid it back into its sheath and left the den. There was nothing there I would want. The truck containers were barren of anything, par a few smashed metal boxes and a couple of ripped up mattresses, and the tent had only an old metal table and smashed up radio in it. The only reason I'd even stopped here was to get my revenge on that horrible thing for spitting on my face. Blood was starting to cloud my vision from where I'd been hit. I had to take my helmet off in order to stop the screen from getting blurred. I kept on walking, following the river again further into D.C.

From the den I could see a small sewer system sitting on a man-made concrete island at the edge of the river. Around it was a swamp of crab eggs the size of a human head. I had never seen anything like them before. The parents weren't around, thankfully. Not to far away from there was a large, surprisingly well kept building with a small cardboard wall around it and lights on inside. I was tempted to check it out but decided against it. It was probably a raider den or enclave base. If not that then the home of some rich, pompous, aristocratic, sex obsessed Russian businessman with a lot of free money, though that last one was probably much less likely. Instead I decided to continue onward. There were two ways I could go from here. There was a way around the back of the building which went right beside the river, and a road around the front which lead further into D.C's ruins. In the end I decided to follow the road, mainly because it was more obvious and easier to follow. It also seemed to be just the better choice. I was more likely to run into less dead ends by following an already set path. I had no idea where the back path went. I went on my way, following the road ahead, feeling the dry air in my hair and face.

It soon reached four o'clock in the afternoon and by this time I hadn't really got any further. I had taken a bit of time to rest and relieve myself of stress against a handy corner during the walk. I had only walked about another one and a half kilometers on from the last point within that time and was still walking down the same road. The building I had passed was still visible in the distance, though it wasn't much more then a dot now. I walked slower now, feeling completely exhausted. I wanted to stop. I wanted to sleep but I had to keep going. There was nowhere safe around to sleep or rest and it was still only several hours till nightfall. I dragged my feet behind me, feeling blisters begin to form on my heels. I kept on going and going, not stopping. I walked along the left side of the road, not paying attention to my surrounding and letting my mind drift. This is a very dangerous thing to do in the wasteland. Not focusing for a split second could be the difference between life and death. I was going to learn this very quickly. As I walked I failed to notice the makeshift cardboard wall appear into my peripheral vision on the right hand side. Someone shouted something t my right. A bullet bounced of the ruined building to my left and f'tanged away into the dirt. I stopped, finally waking up again and focusing on what was happening. I turned, pulling out my pistol. To my right was a small, makeshift raider den at the side of the road. An excited raider was standing at the entrance, a small chinese make pistol in his hands, aimed at my chest. He began cackling and the gun clicked. I ducked as the bullet passed over my head.

"Fresh Meat!" He called, just before I shot him in the throat and he fell backwards, choking on his own breath. I heard the scurrying of feet from inside the den and knew that I really was in trouble now. I did the only thing I could do. I ran for it. I darted down the road as three more raiders ran out from the den after me, wielding a variety of flimsy weapons. Bullets flew past me but I kept running, thankfully remaining unharmed as I sped away. The raiders called after me, yelling excitedly and waving their weapons as they began to run, too. They sped after me, slowly catching up as they were carrying and wearing less then I was. I continued to run, reaching the end of the road and running onto a wet, dirty bank at the edge of the river. The water lapped into my shoes but I still kept running, not wanting to stop for a second. The raiders were getting closer still. I looked back and pointed my pistol, firing it and hitting a raider in the arm. They yelled in pain and winced, slowing a little, but quickly continued running after me, catching up with its friends. I ran across the sand and dirt and back onto the road on the other side of the river bed. Ahead of me was a long, tall, metal bridge running across the river, with stone pillars holding it up at the furthest ends. I continued to run on and on towards the construct. Bullets whizzed past me. Then, suddenly, I felt immense pain surge through my spine. I yelled, gasped and fell face first forwards onto the ground, just in front of the bridge. Something painful and sharp had struck me straight in the back. My legs went numb but I could still move them. Thankfully I was not paralyzed. I felt the skin on my back burning from the heat of the attack I had just taken. I rolled onto my back painfully to see the three raiders running towards me, their weapons raised. One of them was carrying a laser pistol, the weapon which had cause me to fall and my back to burn. The closest was carrying a baseball bat, which they had raised into the air as they ran towards me. I reached for my pistol and aimed it at the raiders head. They got closer, ready to swig the bat and bludgeon my head in. I fired. The bullet missed. I fired again. The bullet missed. I was about to fire again when suddenly something behind me made a mechanical 'kerchunk' and exploded. A spray of shrapnel flew over my head and hit the raider square in the chest. They fell backwards, their body a shredded pile of flesh and blood. The other two raiders skidded to a halt and looked at something behind me, aiming their weapons at whatever it was. There was another kerchunk and another spray of shrapnel hit another raider, knocking them down onto a pile of life liquid. The last raider was taken out by me, as I scurried backwards, aimed my pistol and got a sharp shot in on their forehead with my pistol. I sighed gratefully and looked back, seeing for the first time what it was that had saved me. It was a young woman. She was carrying a combat shotgun and wearing a military camouflage jacket covered with hanging cups and bits of junk and a hat with biker glasses on the rim. Her dark skin was covered in dust and her expression was of mild annoyance and a hint of surprise. She looked down at me, looking rather steely for someone who'd just saved my life. She took one looked at my face, sent her eyes to look at the recently decided raiders and then looked back at me.

Then she said, in a kind yet unmoved voice "What the bloody hell were you doing getting yourself into trouble with that lot?"

I looked at her, a little stunned. I had no Idea what to say. In the end I settled for "Thank you."

She sniffed, ungratefully. "'Thank you'? 'Thank you'? Oh yes, that's all well and good, 'thank you'. Making me waste my limited supply of ammunition on saving your lousy ass. I suppose you want to use up my food supplies as well and make use of the little wooden bucket to which excrement is dropped. Still, I guess it is lucky I helped, otherwise I'd have a nasty mess to clear of my front yard." She seemed to relax a little, letting of the tough, suspicious impression and softening up so she could properly speak to me. "What are you doing out here, stranger?" She asked as she reached out a hand towards me. I took it gratefully. She pulled me up. For a woman she was surprisingly strong. Clearly she was someone who knew how to survive in the wastelands. I stood up, brushed the dust and mud of my clothing and smiled gratefully at her. She smiled back. I could still feel the burning on my back. I winced and reached for my spine. She looked. "One of them got you?" She asked. I nodded. She then reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a roll of bandage. "My camp is just down here. I can help fix you up there." I nodded and followed her down under the bridge.

The camp was in between the last stone arch of the bridge. It wasn't much more then a small metal sheet hut standing on four wooden planks with a mattress and shelf full of junk. But it was shelter and a place to lie your head. It was also hidden away from passers by, meaning that it wasn't likely a raider would see it from outside. It turned out that the woman was a traveling merchant who treks around D.C and the outside wasteland, supplying junk and materials to the junk-towns and settlements of the capital wasteland. She was currently making the opposite journey I was. She had just set of from Rivet City and was traveling towards Megaton, currently taking up shelter in this rest point for the night. She sat me down on a burned tire and helped me take of the top of my jumpsuit. Once we'd done that she began to help me heal up the laser burn on my spine. She started by giving me an injection from a stimpac, washing my burn with clean water, stitching back up the cuts that the beam had left behind and bandaging up the wound to finish. Once that was done she helped me put the jumpsuit back on. Then we sat and talked till the sun came down again. I don't remember everything we spoke about but there is one part I do remember. It went something like this.

"So where are you headed then?" She asked me. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, wincing a little as I accidentally stretched the stitches.

"I was aiming to reach Rivet City." I explained. "It's been an interesting journey. To be honest I'm lucky to still be alive, knowing what I've been through within the last two days." She nodded, humming in understanding.

"Rivet City." She repeated. "You're not the first person I've ever met who's been heading there and I don't think you'll be the last either. There's a lot of wastelanders trying to get there now. Suppose their message about free housing and feeding is working. I don't think it will remain up for long, though. There's been travelers going in and out all day. There was a queue of them when I left a few hours ago." I felt my heart drop a little.

"Is it full already?" I asked. "Are they not supplying places to live any more." She shrugged.

"I don't know. Even if there's no houses or rooms left there's the hotel to stay in and there's always the possibility of bunking in with someone else. You'll usually need to know someone who lives there for that last one, however. Do you know anyone who lives in Rivet City?"She asked. I shook my head.

"No" I said simply. She nodded.

"Right." She was silent for a while. So was I . Then she reached over to the shelves and grabbed a few bottles of beer and a couple of cans of beans. She passed me one of each. "Tuck in. It'll help you sleep and keep you moving." I nodded my thanks and took the beverages.

A little while later we were both fast asleep. She'd given me the mattress to sleep on because of my wound while she slept next to the shelf. I must admit that the beer and beans did help me relax and finally fall asleep. As my eyes faded away I found myself staring at the back of the merchant's neck. She was quite young and relatively attractive, not beautiful but simply elegant. She was black, but that was no problem. Racism wasn't something that continued to exist after the war. There was no point wasting breath and words on humans of different colour. Life was suddenly too short and dangerous and heavily irradiated to bother making fun of a man (or woman's) colour. Sadly all that went towards the ghouls, the ones that kept their sanity and lived among humans, because they looked ugly, were more resistant to irradiation, naturally lived much longer and frankly sounded, looked, smelled and felt disgusting. Most sane ghouls weren't actually that bad, they just got all the grief because the insane ghouls gave all ghouls a bad reputation. I struck myself on the forehead with a palm. What was I thinking? This wasn't the time or place to be thinking about a woman I'd never met before. I was just experiencing introduction anxiety. Slowly I closed my eyes and fell asleep, drifting into the dark void, listening to the sound of Three Dog of Galaxy News Radio jabbering on from the radio.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of "YYYYYEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAA!" From the radio. I sat up suddenly, then grumbled. Three Dog had given us a wake up call. The day's first light had fallen at least an hour earlier and already the world was beginning to look damp and sodden. The usual design for the wasteland beaches. I didn't spend long getting ready and leaving. I gathered my stuff, checked my wounds and said goodbye to the merchant. She wished me luck and gave me a goodbye handshake before seeing me off and pointing the direction to Rivet City. I thanked her for feeding me, fixing my wound and giving me somewhere to rest. Then I continued southwards, following the road away from where I'd come, further into D.C.

It wasn't a long walk. In fact it was surprisingly short. I had only walked forty five minutes before I saw a huge metal tanker ship in the distance. Following that was the rivers edge, leading out into the basin at the south end of D.C. I sighed with relief, standing upon the raised hill looking out over the lower D.C buildings. I was almost there. Almost at the doorstep to civilization. There it was. Rivet City. The great sea town. I just had a short walk then I'd be there. I was almost at my destination. I took of again, speeding up my run and moving in a quickest pace. I ran on, speeding past dens of mutants that had outlined the river edge and jumping over low stone walls, dodging bullets like an agent from the matrix. I have no idea what the matrix is, it just sounds cool. I kept going, the knowledge that I was almost at my destination fueling my body. Within no time I was there, at the doorway to Rivet City. It was so close. All I had to do was get past the guard, walk across the extending bridge and then... well I'd figure it out after that. The guard, who was wearing black combat armor and a riot helmet much like my own, stood by a makeshift metal ramp, leading up into a burned but stable metal structure which the bridge extended towards. When he saw me he held up a hand.

"Halt, traveler. What business do you have with Rivet City?" He asked, strictly but not viciously. I held my hand up in return, slipping my helmet of so he could see my face. Most guards preferred to be able to see who they were talking to.

"Just a traveler." I responded. "I come here looking for somewhere to live, for a while at least. I do not wish to cause any problems or attack anyone. I'm willing to work and pay for lodging, too." The guard nodded.

"Alright. You're not the first one we've had turn up today asking the same thing." He told me. "Do you have any ID on you?" I gulped.

"Uh... no, I don't." He shrugged. "Oh. Oh well, you're probably not a criminal by looking at you. I just need to know your name, age and respective gender and get approval from the council before you can come in.

"How long will that take?" He shrugged again.

"Dunno. Hopefully only twenty minutes. For now you can wait here till..." He stopped suddenly, his eyes fixing on something behind me. His gun rose up, then he roared "GET DOWN!" Seeing the anger and violence suddenly appearing in his eyes I dropped to the floor, lying on my chest. Bullets began flying overhead, coming from both the guards gun and from the attackers guns. I looked at what was attacking. A legion of well armed, hungry looking supermutants were marching in a line towards them, firing assault rifles, hunting rifles and even a few miniguns. There must have been at least twelve of them. The guard backed up and reached for an intercom. He pressed a button and began shouting into it. "Get every man down here. We've got supermutants up front. Bring out the heavy gear and inform the Brotherhood. We're under attack!" Then he turned and began firing his assault rifle again. One mutant fell back, taking several bullets. There was only one thing I could do at this point. I couldn't get into Rivet City yet and lying out here would almost certainly lead to my death. So I got up, turned and ran away, heading across the beach and towards D.C. I had nothing else I could do. There was nowhere else to go. There was nowhere else to Fucking go. As I ran I heard the marching of new guards and the original guard shout out after me "Hey. Don't go that way! You're running to a dead end." A second later a missile struck him in the chest and sent him flying backwards, into the approaching guards. I turned back and kept running, trying to get away from the oncoming attack. Unfortunately a few supermutants spotted me and broke away from the group.

**"Ey! Derez a humey over dere. Lets get 'im!"** Bullets whizzed past me as I ran, trying to get away. I couldn't fight back. No guns I had could take out four supermutants and I didn't have enough ammo to make a holdout against them. Then I skidded to a stop. The road was indeed a dead end. A fallen building blocked the road completely and rubble filled up any gaps that may have been opened. I had nowhere else to run. Behind me I could hear the mutants getting closer. In desperation I looked around and spotted a metro entrance. I didn't think, I ran to the stone barrier and jumped it, landing on both feet and rolling to recover from the fall impact. Bullets and dust bounced of the stone, showering down on in a rain of plaster and grit. I didn't stop. I kept going, darting inside the metro tunnel and shutting it behind me. The last thing I heard from outside was angry yells of the mutants as they disappeared from sight.

This was the last time I'd ever see daylight. This was the place it all ended for me. This is the place that I will die.

* * *

**That was part 4 of 5. Only one chapter left to go. Hope you enjoyed the story up to this point. Follow for the final chapter.**


	6. Part 5: So This Is How It Ends

**This is the fifth chapter. This is the end.**

* * *

I stepped back away from the gate. The shaded black figures of the mutants got closer. Soon they would be at the door, it may take a while for them to break the pipe I'd used to block it shut but eventually they would get in. I could only keep going into the metro, and the last time I did that... I turned and hurried down the entrance hallway, running deeper into the dark. I passed by an identical rusting locker and cracked stone bench to the left and right sides, just like the ones I'd seen in the last metro station. I wasn't keen on going back down under the earth. It wasn't just the claustrophobia anymore. It was more what was in the dark then the dark itself. And now I had seen close enough the horrors down here, what those horrors could do to someone. I shudder thinking back to it. That poor man. I could have saved him. But I didn't. I will never forget. I will never forgive myself. I made a turn into another metro station platform overlooking destroyed and caved in tracks, dead trains resting inactively on some of them. What was different about this one was the small ticket hut near the front with pieces of junk lying around, a small cluster of ammo boxes well placed together and a long, makeshift, wooden, metal, wire fence running around most of the edge. I stopped upon seeing it, my heart sinking. The first word to crawl into my mind was a two syllable seven letter word, 'Raiders'. The second word to crawl into my mind was a shorter, one syllable three letter word, 'Den'. I crouched into a stealthier position and crept slowly forward. The smart part of my mind told me to turn back and leave, to not walk into further danger, but the aware part of my mind, the part that sees for me, told me that I had to keep going, because there was no back to go to anymore. I reached for my rifle. And then a figure appeared at the edge of the wall, shrouded in shadow. I stopped, darting quickly into the ticket hut and hiding inside from sight. The footsteps got closer. I hid lower and further into the dark. On the edge the raider came into view from the distance. It hadn't seen me yet but it was heading right this way, so it wouldn't be long till it did. I gripped my rifle. The raider got closer. Fortunately he wasn't looking at where I was hidden, under the desk. He walked into the ticket hut and stood tear the door, not looking at me or paying attention to his surroundings. He wasn't going to turn around or walk away any time soon, that was clear. I had no choice. I aimed my rifle at his leg, remaining hidden. Then, to my now everlasting regret, I pulled the trigger. The flash was small and unseen, but the shot echoed around the entire station, bouncing of the stone and growing louder with every bounce it made. Unfortunately the raider also had a tongue. He yelled, grabbed his knee and fell over, wailing and cursing.

"Gha! You Fucker!" He roared in my face. I suddenly realized just how fucked I was now and how stupid that decision had been. I only had four rifle bullets left. To shut him up and maybe stand a chance of avoiding more raiders finding me, I crawled out of my cover within a second and struck the raider in the head with the rifle butt. He fell silent as the bones cracked. Unfortunately he was not alone. There was a chorus of angry, excited and all around vicious cries that followed the wake of the call, followed by a volley of footsteps running across stone and up escalator steps. I was really in trouble now. I readied for a fight. A set of running footsteps got even closer now. I looked around the door and aimed my gun around the left side. Another raider ran around it, carrying a lead pipe. I aimed the rifle and fired, hitting them in the arm. The raider flinched but continued running, bringing the pipe up and readying to strike. I fired again, hitting them in he chest. They fell backwards, a few feet away from me, the lead pipe flying out of their hands. That was one more raider down. I was left with two bullets. Could I get in a few lucky shots and take down two more? Another raider appeared, this one carrying an assault rifle. I hid back behind the wall as a flurry of bullets bounced of the metal wall. I hid, covering my head in case any stray bullets made it inside. A few seconds later the firing stopped as their gun kerchunk'd still. I turned the corner and saw them fiddling with the gun magazine. I Stood up to get a better shot and raised the rifle, readying to fire. I fired once, hitting the raider in the lower chest. They flinched up and fell kneeling onto the ground, grabbing the wound and holding it in pain. I cocked the rifle and readied to fire again. Then I heard running footsteps behind. I looked back and saw a raider right behind me, running forward and reaching for my rifle. I turned, swing the rifle out and struck him in the face. He fell backwards with a nasty crack and hit the ground heavily. As he turned, reaching for his gun, I fired the last bullet deep into his head. His skull exploded like a melon, leaving pieces of brain, pools of blood and lumps of god-knows-what where it had been. And that was it. That was my last rifle bullet wasted. Now it was useless. The raider I had left injured was still groaning where I'd left him. Around me more footsteps were getting closer. I had to run for it. I had no chance of holding out here anymore. I slid my rifle onto my back, turned for the edge of the stone barrier and ran for it, moving right leg over left. At the escalator two more raiders came into view, running up the steps and aiming their guns. I jumped onto the barrier, landed right foot first and pushed of again, sailing through the air. Bullets flew past me, in front and behind, showering me in a downpour of metal, led, scrap and dust. I landed painfully on both feet and rolled forwards, quickly getting back onto my legs and running for a free, unblocked tunnel.

"Get Him!" A raider yelled behind me. I looked back, heard the sound of gunfire and suddenly I felt stinging in my leg. A few bullets had hit me, breaking through the armor and digging into my muscles. It stung, it ached, but I kept going, slowing a little but still running on. I ran down the tunnel, passing a destroyed train and jumping over the carriage joint, trying to loose the raiders catching up behind me. I ran past the end of the train and made a right turn down a turn-away tunnel to the right. If I wasn't being chased I would have stopped a few seconds into turning the corner. Further down this tunnel was another set of raiders, sitting unaware in a small outpost they had set up. I growled, reached for my sawed-off shotgun and readying to fire it if necessary. A few seconds later they finally noticed me running towards them. One by one they stood up, reaching for their guns. I pulled a fist pack and punched the closest one in the face as I past. He fell over but stayed conscious, watching in surprise as I passed by him and shot the second raider square in the face, killing him instantly. The third raider I just ran past, avoiding the swings and shots he made at me. Now I had at least five of them chasing me down another tunnel, further into the dark. Then I came to a dead end. I skidded to a quick stop, looking at the wall in front of me. I had no idea what to do. I had no idea where to go. Behind me I heard the raiders getting closer, bullets flying around me. I looked around desperately. To my luck I spotted a side tunnel to the left. It looked broken, cracked and old, as if it would fall down at any second, but I went through it anyway, avoiding the shots that bounced of the walls around me. I pushed the door open in one shove and ran down it, the raiders close behind me. The roof shook with the sound. It didn't look like it was stable enough to stay standing for long. One wrong move would probably cause the roof to collapse. Still I ran down it, heading deeper and deeper into the metro. Soon enough I reached a door at the end, leading into another part of the metro. I reached it within seconds, bullets still flying around me. I tugged the door open with a few tries and ran inside. Behind me the raiders were fast approaching. They were never going to stop chasing me and I had no way of blocking the door. With a quick second of thinking I reached into my pocket, pulled out one of my last grenades and pulled the pin, throwing it down the tunnel and slamming the door shut behind me. A few seconds later I heard the grenade explode and a few yells of surprise. A second after that I felt a rumbling sensation from the walls. The roof began to give way. There was a heavy crash of stone and rubble from behind the door, cutting of the cries of the raiders silent. Then everything went silent. I stepped away from the door and sighed. I had escaped from the raiders. I was safe. But I had also blocked myself in.

Within the excitement and rush of the now passed threat I failed to pay attention to my surroundings. I heard a rabid growl and footsteps quickly approaching behind me. I didn't turn quick enough in time. A wrinkled, irradiated, browning, skinless hand gripped my left arm. I turned properly, striking out with the grabbed hand and smacking a sudden feral ghoul in the face knocking it back. It gripped on tight, however, staying hanging onto my arm with one sharp fingered hand. The other came scrapping down towards my face, clawed and vicious. I dodged aside as the claw passed by my face. The reaction of doing so meant I lost focus with my shotgun and had to aim again to get a successful shot. It tugged on my wrist. I pulled back, striking it again in the neck, but still it held on. Desperately I aimed my shotgun randomly and fired. The spray of bullets bounced off the wall behind the ghoul. I tried to reload, finally pushing the ghoul of me long enough to reach for another two shells and load them into the gun. When I brought it up again the ghoul was swinging in again. I jumped aside, its claw scrapping my elbow but missing any serious damage. I raised my hand with the gun up and it lunged, head first. Its flailing hands struck the shotgun and hit it from my hands. In a case of automatic defense I raised my left arm up to protect my neck from its incoming teeth. And that was the last worst mistake I made. I yelled in pain as the sharp, rotting, irradiated, yellow fangs ripped through my armor and dug into my skin, piercing the skin and breaking the muscle on both sides. I winced and looked at the creature. My lower arm was gripped in its vice like and surprisingly strong jaws. Panic bells rang in my ears. Its pale, yellow, insane eyes glanced into my own. With no more concern for my own safety I reached for my knife and slid it out. I stuck the blade deep into the ghouls lower knock, sliding through the weak layer of skin and rotting muscles. Blood trickled out of the wound but still it held on, still remaining alive somehow. I pulled the knife out and stabbed again, this time sticking it into the side of its head. Blood sprayed out, coating my arm and the whole of the knife in horrid brown-red blood. All signs of life disappeared from its eyes in seconds as the blade severed what was left of its brain, destroying it instantly. Yet still its jaw stayed gripped around my arm. At least it was dead now, but I had to get it of my arm. I looked around for my shotgun but couldn't find it. The damn thing must have knocked it under some rubble or something like. I never found it again. Instead I resorted to my pistol, the only gun with ammo I had left available to me. I whipped it out with my free hand and fired three shots into the creatures jaw joints. The third one shattered the bone into tiny shards and finally I was free from its vampire grip. I looked down at the vile desecrated corpse of a past human, feeling glad that finally I was rid of it. And then I remembered my arm. If I had been watching myself in 3rd person I would have seen my expression drop dramatically from glad relief to sudden fearful realization. I stared at the gaping bite wound left in my ripped jumpsuit armor. The skin around was not only bleed but had also gone a sickly dark red. My mind suddenly shrouded up with fear. What had I done? What the bloody fuck had I done?

"Oh god no! Oh god please no!" I stepped back, my right arm falling limp and my left beginning to shake. I was beginning to loose myself to fear. The ghoul had frigging bitten me and broken the skin. The one thing I had always remembered about irradiated feral ghouls is that you should be cautious of their bites. Their bodies are filled with radiation and their bites can spread heavy amounts across to a new body. It was in their saliva. That thing had been gripped onto my arm for almost a minute. That would be long enough for it to give me an accidental heavy dose. And I had nothing on me to fix radiation sickness, nothing at all to even lower the levels of radiation in my body. I could already feel the skin begin to itch under the skin. That was one of the first signs of the sickness, apparently. And in this underground metro I would be constantly exposed to a low level of radiation. I didn't have anywhere to get away from it. I couldn't go back because the path was caved in. All I could do was head forwards and hope I found a way out. But if I didn't then I'd be stuck down here. Soon enough the radiation would become intolerable. It would begin to make my skin and hair fall of, and then my sanity would go, and then I would no longer be human anymore. I would become like one of them. The shell of a human being, crawling around in the underground of the world, eating radroaches and dirt and roaring at the nothingness of the tunnels around me. If I could just find a way out then maybe I could find help, get someone to heal me up before the radiation gets too severe. For now it wasn't severe yet but it was getting there. I had no choice. I gathered my courage, kicking in the ghouls head till there was hardly even a pile of shattered bone, and continued on down this new tunnel I had entered, trying to find a way out. I didn't succeed.

I ran down the tunnel, not caring nor paying attention to anything around me. I just needed to get to the surface. Claustrophobia, radiation, nausea, confusion, irritation, fear and exhaustion clouded my mind as one great storm. I didn't care if I survived or not. I just needed to find a way out. I saw a ghoul in front of me and it saw me. I ran past it, striking it in the face with a fist and knocked it down. As it fell however it grabbed my sack bag with a clawed arm and tugged me back. I pulled against it, stopping with the surprising weight of the disheveled creature on my shoulders. I tugged and tugged but its sharp nails gripped the bag until it ripped open. The contents flew out everywhere. Tins of spare food, water, tools and junk flew everywhere, some of it landing on the ghoul. Great, now everything I owned had been flung everywhere. Even my rifle had been pulled of with it, lying in two shattered halves by a fallen slab of roof sticking out of the ground. I didn't even have anything to carry it all in now. Before I could even think about trying to grab some of it another bunch of ghouls turned the corner. I aimed my pistol and fired a few times. I managed to take out one ghoul but due to the radiation my body was shaking and my accuracy was failing me. Then the gun jammed. I cursed at it, saw the four healthy standing ghouls running at me and the one downed ghoul crawling towards me. I had no choice but to leave it all. I turned and ran, leaving all my food, water and one of my guns lying useless and disowned in my wake. The ghouls didn't hesitate to follow after me. Now I was left with my knife, pistol with only twelve bullets left and one grenade.

I kept on running, running for my life down an endless hall, knowing just how doomed I was but not willing yet to give up. The tunnel was like something out of a dream. No matter how fast I ran the end kept getting further and further away. My vision was a blur, my feet were hardly touching the ground, my mind was a fear driven motor of stupidity. It couldn't end like this, not when I'd come so far and gotten through so much. Surely I had to get out of this. But then I remembered. This is the D.C wasteland. There are no happy endings here. I finally reached the tunnel, turned the corner and then, just when I thought that it couldn't possibly get any worse, it got a hell of a lot WORSE! I ran straight into ANOTHER raider den! This one was full to the brim of at least seven raisers, all carrying a variety of powerful weaponry, all awake and all of them looking straight at me. I stood there for a split second before one of the raiders at the front suddenly shouted.

"Target Practice!" and opened fire with his assault rifle. I sped into action.I ran on, heading past the group of raiders, ducking and diving, desperately trying to avoid the gunshots. And then the ghouls arrived. There were shouts and cries from the raiders as two of them at the front fell to the ghouls instantly. some of the others turned and opened fire on the ghouls, killing most of them in a few shots. I took this opportunity and ran, heading down a small side path into the service passages of the metro. I sped down the path till a reached a room with a variety of supplies piled up on lockers, desks, tables, beds and other metal and wood objects. I don't even remember what there was. I payed no attention to it. My eyes focused immediately on a large electronic hatch on the floor with an electric button on the wall. A bunker of some kind, or at least somewhere that could be used as a bunker, or somewhere to hold out against the raiders and ghouls. At first it looked perfect. But then I thought about it. What if it was a dead end. What if there was no way out the other side. I would be trapped. I had no more time to think about this because at that second the shooting outside stopped and I heard the raiders shouting again.

"After him!" I heard one call.

"He went down here!" Another called.

I panicked and lunged for the switch, pressing it on. Footsteps ran towards me down the passage. The metallic doors on the ground began to raise up. The footsteps got closer. I raised my gun. Still the door opened up. I held my arms steady. I only had one full clip of twelve bullets left in my gun. Would it be enough?The footsteps were right on top of me now. The tap of the doors finishing. And then a raider came into view. I fired. The bullet hit him in the arm and he recoiled.

"Eleven"

I fired again. He fell backwards, a bullet hole in his head.

"Ten"

Another came around. Three bullets hit him in the chest.

"Seven"

I stepped back and began moving down the steps. Another raider appeared. Another two bullets took them down.

"Five"

Another raider. Another two bullets. My eyes were blurring up with blood now. The skin on my forehead had broken again, leading to a trickle of read over my vision.

"Three"

I was almost at the bottom of the steps. Another raider came into view. I fired again, but the bullet bounced of a wall beside them.

"Two"

The raiders gun rose into view. I fired. The bullet struck the rifle he was carrying and knocked it from his hands. While he was distracted picking it back up I slammed down my fist on the button and the doors slammed closed again.

"One"

I slammed my fist into the door mechanic as it closed shut again. The box exploded as sparks flew out from the sides. There was an electronic kerchunk as the metal plates stuck shut. They would never open again. I stepped back. On the other side I heard thudding as the raiders began trying to break in the cover with brute force. I stepped backwards and turned the corner into a mechanics workroom of some kind. There were lockers and piper running around the walls of the room and at the far end was a small table. I walked over to it and fell down at its side, resting finally. I was exhausted. I felt sick. I wanted to go home. I shut my eyes for a second, trying to rest. I knew this wasn't the time. I still needed to escape. Then I heard thudding from closer by. I turned to my left. There was another metal door, this one on the wall and made of multiple plates and pipes with a valve at the center. Something was crashing against it. Something angry. I heard growling and groaning from the other side. The kind that I had heard very recently. I drooped my head. I was surrounded on all sides. Both exits were blocked by enemies that wanted to kill me. I was trapped. There was no way of getting out. This was it. This was my grave.

* * *

So now you know my story. Of how I ended up here, in this wretched metro, with this wretched book and dying from wretched irradiation, slowly loosing my mind to the ghoulism. I just feel so disappointed with myself. I should never have taken so many chances. I shouldn't have even left Megaton on my own. I'd completely forgotten about that advice. My parents had always taught me it. D.C is not safe to travel alone. It is much safer with an ally. And I ignored this rule completely. I could have stuck with the merchant. I could have headed back home after getting back to the river. I could have even not decided to leave at all and lived out the rest of my days in a nice safe junk-town. Instead I made every mistake in the book, especially in this book.

I failed to mention how I found this one, clean, empty book in which to write in. Well about twenty minutes after I made it down into this hellhole I found that I had drifted of to sleep. A little while after I woke up again. It's not easy to stay asleep down here with thin kind of noise going on. I decided I needed to do something so I went rummaging around in the lockers around the room, in case there was any food. There wasn't. But there was one thing. In one of them, on the left side at the far middle in a knocked over metal rusting locker, I found a small, hardbound, clean, unused, relatively dry, but most of all, empty book. This book you are reading right now, as a matter of fact. I found a pen and quickly got down to writing everything that happened to me, in the hope that one day, if someone did find me, or at least whatever's left of me, that this will survive, for them to read and learn how I ended up here. I hope that I am found. This this is found. I would hate to think that this ends up rotting away in the underworld, never entering the ether of the human mind circle. ... I'm scrawling gibberish again. My mind is already going. A minute ago I was shouting at a tin can for being to rusty. I... cannot... process... sentient... ... ... thoughts. I... cannot think. I only hhhope that I am found, that I don't lllet myself ttturn into one of those gggghouls out there. I don't want to be one of them. I tried so hhhard to get so fffar, but in the end it didn't even mmmatter. I nearly made it. I nearly fucking made it

(Tear stains blot out the following paragraph of text.)

I regret everything I ever did in my life. I regret kicking that stranger's dog. I regret pissing in the plant's water supply. I regret planting cherry bombs in the toilets. I regret leaving home. I regret not paying respects to my family. I regret not caring for my sister. I regret letting her die. I regret letting my brother leave. I regret never trying to find him. I regret getting lost in teh metro. I regret leaving that man to die. I regret killing that boy raider. I regret not giving piece to that dying man. I regret never making it to my destination. I regret being born. I regret my life!

(The following paragraph is too scribbled and soaked in tears and blood to make out)

My hand is aching. My body is shivering. My mind is going. It's tough just to think these words. The ghouls are back, as are the raiders. They never stop. The noise never stops. The pain will never go away. Why me? Why fucking me! I still have one bullet left. I still have one grenade. I still have my knife. I could end it now. I could put myself out of this all now if I wanted to. But I'm too much of a coward. There's no food. There's no water. I'm starving. I'm parched. I'm weak. I'm doomed! I'm trapped down here, in a destroyed metro, in the ruins of a dead city. So this is how my light goes out. So this is where the last page is cut. Of all the people to suffer like this, it was me. So this is how it ends! So this is how it ends?

* * *

**That was part 5 of 5. Hope you enjoyed the story. An epilogue will be up soon. **


	7. Epilogue

**The following note was written by an anonymous member of the Rivet City guard who went searching for the missing traveler who had arrived outside the city on July 21st at 0900 hours.**

This book was found on a table in the service tunnels of Anacostia Crossing Metro Station, outside of Rivet City. Me and my men found it while searching for a wandered who went missing in here after Rivet City was attacked by mutants. We found the room beyond a collapsed service passage which, after two days, we eventually managed to clear. Beyond that a raiders den leading to another service passage with an electronic door in the ground. After heading through it we entered a small engineers service room and in that, the body of a ghoul wearing the clothes he was born in. It looked like a fresh ghoul, someone who had turned recently. And then we noticed this book.

We do not know the name of the man who wrote it. But we do know where he lived. We have sent someone to tell his people what happened here. All the evidence points towards this ghoul being him. But I don't think it is. The book was just left. Not one extra note was added. If he was about to die I would have thought he would say more. But he didn't. In the book he explains that he didn't kill all the raiders and that he broke the door panel, yet when we got here all the raiders were dead and the door had already been opened. If he had been irradiated so badly he wouldn't have had the strength to do that. Also he has been missing for seven days. it takes at least two weeks to turn into a ghoul in this way. Within that time he would have starved to death. We checked the body and the room and found no gun, no knife and no grenade. We did find the stuff he'd left behind, even his shotgun which he thought he'd lost. The only thing left with the body was a weary riot helmet with a cracked plastic visor. It doesn't all add up. But I don't know everything. There are parts of this book which are too blurred and scrawled to read.

We do not know if this body is the authors. We do not know where half his equipment is. We do not know where he is if this isn't him. But we do not have time to dwell on this. For now he has been considered deceased. Our hearts go out to anyone who knew him. It's a pity really. Because after all that he went through in this book, he very nearly made it.

THE END

* * *

**And that was In The Ruins. Sorry if the ending was a little blunt or ruined it. I wanted to keep it open to suggestion. Did he die or didn't he? That is up for you to decide yourself. I hope that this epilogue didn't make that opinion one-sided towards him living. I didn't want it to do that. I won't make the notes long because I don't want to ruin the effect this story leaves. I'll just leave them as notes. Thanks to all readers and followers for following and enjoying this story.**

**Sequel?: Maybe. Ideas in mind but I'm unsure if I want to make one yet. Might ruin this story if there's a sequel. **

**Next Book: Working on Crobat Chronicles 2: Johto right now. Want to get a few chapters done before I start uploading. May post them around June or July. Also might do short story set in between the two books following Ralph, looking at his past. Still thinking about that one.**

**New Books: Have an idea for a comedy set in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, following a guild of adventurers. Still working on the idea. May go through with it, May not. If you like the idea of a comedy with a guild for adventurers then feel free to say so. Hell even share ideas for it to help me build it up. Also may write a story not based upon something that already exists but still considering that one. It'll probably be some kind of fantasy with a twist and it probably won't be posted on here. **

**That's all. Thank you for reading this far and being a part of the story. All have to say is keep reading, keep righting and never forget what your own goals are. That way you may not end up like this man.**

**J Out.**


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